A woman uses her phone as she passes by the ByteDance headquarters in Beijing, China, on Friday, Aug. 7, 2020. The Chinese government is complicating the U.S.-government-ordered sale of U.S. TikTok assets. China on Friday, Aug. 28, 2020 introduced export restrictions on artificial intelligence technology, seemingly including the type that TikTok uses to choose which videos to spool up to its users. That means TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, would have to obtain a license to export any restricted technologies to a foreign company. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
By Tali Arbel and Zen Soo
The Chinese government is complicating the U.S.-government-ordered sale of U.S. TikTok assets.
China on Friday introduced export restrictions on artificial intelligence technology, seemingly including the type that TikTok uses to choose which videos to spool up to its users. That means TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, would have to obtain a license to export any restricted technologies to a foreign company.
The Trump administration has threatened to ban TikTok by mid-September and ordered ByteDance to sell its U.S. business, claiming national-security risks due to that Chinese ownership. The government worries about user data being funneled to Chinese authorities. TikTok denies it is a national-security risk and is suing to stop the administration from the threatened ban.
Prospective buyers for U.S. TikTok assets include Microsoft and Walmart and, reportedly, Oracle. Oracle has declined to comment.
On Saturday, Chinese state-owned media outlet Xinhua News Agency quoted government trade adviser and professor Cui Fan, who said that Bytedance should consider whether it should halt negotiations to sell TikTok in the U.S.
"As with any cross-border transaction, we will follow the applicable laws, which in this case include those of the U.S. and China," said ByteDance General Counsel Erich Andersen.
The Chinese government's new restrictions may be a "tactic to drive up valuation" of TikTok, said RBC Capital Markets analyst Alex Zukin, who still expects a deal announcement "relatively soon." The Wall Street Journal reported last week that ByteDance is asking for $30 billion for the U.S. operations, but has faced resistance from bidders. The Journal said in a Sunday story that deal talks had "slowed."
Microsoft and Walmart declined to comment on Monday.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, during a White House briefing, did not directly answer whether the administration would accept a sale of U.S. assets of TikTok if the deal were subject to Chinese government approval. "Negotiations are ongoing on a sale of TikTok so we are not going to get in the way of those negotiations," she said.
—
Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report from Washington.
Michael Boyd, CEO of aviation consultancy Boyd Group International, joined Cheddar to discuss recent mass flight cancellations by airlines like American and Southwest. Boyd noted that the usually efficient hub and spoke system left American Airlines vulnerable to the weather event in Dallas-Fort Worth and staffing shortages. He also said that while planning trips in the current climate can be unnerving, problems like weather delays are just part of the flying experience.
Christian Kroll, CEO of Ecosia, joins 'Fast Forward' to discuss how Ecosia uses its ad revenue to plant trees, and what the company plans to do after launching a $405 million venture capital fund focused on combating the climate crisis.
Guy Hirsch, USA managing director and head of NFT at eToro, joined Cheddar to discuss the evolution of bitcoin into the mainstream 13 years after the white paper from the presumed pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto was published. Hirsch said there were several groundbreaking moments for the cryptocurrency, starting with the financial crisis of 2008, noting that people began seeking a solution to protect wealth, and bitcoin "gave people the confidence that it is an immutable ledger that no one can really hack or interfere with."
Visa CFO Vasant Prabhu, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to talk about the financial service company's prediction that a full economic recovery from the pandemic won't happen until summer 2023 based on travel-related sources. Prabhu noted that a big question mark for the recovery is when Asia reopens for travel but "anything's possible" and the recovery could still end up going faster than anticipated.
Clinical research company Medable has secured $304 million in Series D funding, marking its fourth round since 2020, giving the firm a valuation of just over $2 billion. Dr. Michelle Longmire, CEO and Co-founder, Medable joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the future of the company.
House Democrats are scrambling to hold a vote as soon as Tuesday on President Joe Biden's economic agenda — both the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and the $1.85 trillion social safety net and climate bill. With Biden still overseas, the bill stands in flux. Jennifer Haberkorn, congressional reporter at the Los Angeles Times, joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to discuss.
Sportradar, a global sports data company, announced it will serve as UEFA’s exclusive authorized collector and distributor of data for betting purposes. The agreement covers 1,550 matches from the 2021-2022 season through to the end of the 2023-2024 season across all UEFA properties in Europe. Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl joined Cheddar to provide additional details on the landmark partnership and some insight into the future of sports betting.
