In an interview with NBC News on January 18, President-elect Donald Trump said it was “most likely” that he would give TikTok another 90 days to cut off with Chinese shareholders, helping the company temporarily escape the ban on operating in the US from April 18. 19.1.
Previously, the US Congress passed a law requiring TikTok to abandon contact with Chinese shareholders, specifically parent company ByteDance, or else it will be banned from operating from January 19. The US Supreme Court on January 17 agreed with this law.
President-elect Donald Trump said he would likely extend TikTok to continue operating
“The 90-day extension is the most likely thing that will happen, because it’s appropriate. If I decide to do that, I will probably announce it on January 20,” Mr. Trump said, referring to his inauguration day. .
TikTok announced on January 17 that it will stop operating in the US on January 19 unless President Joe Biden assures TikTok’s main service providers such as Apple and Google that they will not be subject to legal action if the ban takes place. effect.
President Biden has said the decision belongs to the next administration, preparing to take office on January 20. The law allows the current president to extend the deadline by 90 days if there is progress in buying back shares from ByteDance.
Perplexity AI negotiates to buy TikTok
According to AP, artificial intelligence (AI) startup Perplexity AI sent a proposal to ByteDance on January 18 to establish a new company merging Perplexity with TikTok US. If successful, the new structure would include other investors and allow existing ByteDance shareholders to retain TikTok shares. The proposal did not include a price, but sources estimated the deal to be worth at least $50 billion.
Canadian investor Kevin O’Leary (participant of the famous Shark Tank show) and billionaire Frank McCourt have also offered to buy TikTok US. Mr. O’Leary said he had proposed a price of $20 billion but also acknowledged the legal issues of this case, including whether Mr. Trump’s executive order could postpone the legal ban, according to AFP.
TikTok logo at company headquarters in Culver City, California
TikTok faces major damage
It is currently unclear whether TikTok will completely stop operating from January 19. Experts believe that with the content of the law, TikTok users can still continue to access the application but will not be updated, eventually making the platform unusable.
TikTok has about 170 users in the US, most of whom are young people. A segment of content creators and small businesses rely on TikTok for income.
If banned, TikTok will suffer huge financial losses. The company’s lawyers say that if the ban lasts a month, TikTok will lose 29% of its total global targeted advertising revenue as well as lose talented, promising employees.
If TikTok is banned, rival platforms such as Instagram’s Reels or YouTube’s Shorts will benefit. Thousands of TikTok users have switched to using the Chinese app Xiaohongshu, a social network similar to Instagram.
