MARK SULLIVAN
THE REAL REASON THE U.S. GOVERNMENT WANTS TO BAN A BYTEDANCE-OWNED TIKTOK
TikTok could shut down in the U.S. as soon as January 19 if the Supreme Court doesn’t step in. The high court is now considering the constitutionality of a law passed by Congress in April mandating that TikTok find a new owner or face a ban. The government believes TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, might share user data with the Chinese government. But Congress has failed to explain how such a data transfer could be so dangerous to the 170 million Americans who use TikTok.
The data threat has a lot to do with AI. Congress is trying to play the “long game” with TikTok, one Washington insider tells me. China has a history of vacuuming up any data it can get its hands on, from user data to supply chain analytics to intellectual property. Per this insider, lawmakers worry that a decade from now Chinese AI may be able to access and weaponize TikTok user data to move U.S. public opinion one way or the other on key issues like tariffs.
TikTok’s algorithm is already eerily good at putting videos in front of users that match their tastes, values, and sensibilities. That capability will only improve as AI models grow more sophisticated. Because AI makes generating content cheaper, the Chinese government might be able to leverage what it knows about each TikTok user, and generate content for them that’s specially tailored to persuade them.
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