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☆ ‘Cherry on the Cake’: How China Views the U.S. Crackdown on TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Ravi Mattu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He spoke with DealBook about how China views the latest U.S. crackdown on TikTok. How does China see the latest TikTok fight? Chinese state media and government spokespeople have made it clear that this is very unwelcome. State media is keeping its powder dry because there are still several steps before ByteDance might have to sell TikTok in the U.S. Before this looks really imminent, state media is not rallying citizens to object too much.

Persons: Dan Wang, Wang, Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai, DealBook, spokespeople, ByteDance Organizations: Yale Law, Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, U.S Locations: China, United States, America, Beijing, U.S

Are investors buying Nvidia’s latest A.I. Nvidia’s stock has soared more than fivefold since ChatGPT debuted in November 2022, a rally that has vaulted the chipmaker into the trillion-dollar market cap club on the back of investor fervor for artificial intelligence — and the high-end processors that power these models. But shares in Nvidia are down in premarket trading on Tuesday after investors gave the first day of the company’s annual developer conference (known as “A.I. Woodstock”) a tough grade. That’s even after the semiconductor company introduced its latest chip, which is capable of running increasingly complex computing models.

Persons: ChatGPT, A.I Organizations: Nvidia Locations: Woodstock

A different kind of battle for Third PointA small computer chip design company, R2 Semiconductor, has been notching wins in a potentially big patent fight against Intel over the past few months — a dispute that could force Intel to stop selling several chip lines in Europe. The context: R2 sued Intel, as well as two customers, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Dell, in Germany, alleging that the chipmaker had infringed on a patent dealing with voltage regulation in semiconductors. A regional court in February issued injunctions against the sale of at least some Intel chips. And on March 8, a higher court rejected Intel’s effort to halt the decision. Meanwhile, a trial in Britain over the patent is set to begin next month.

Persons: DealBook, Dan, haven’t Organizations: R2 Semiconductor, Intel, Amazon Web Services, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Dell Locations: Europe, Germany, Britain

What’s next for ByteDance’s U.S. investors? DealBook has spoken with people in the know about what these investors, including financial giants like the Susquehanna International Group, can do, with billions of dollars on the line. Mnuchin, a former Treasury secretary, told Andrew on CNBC on Thursday that he was in talks with a “combination of U.S. investors” about a TikTok deal. He added that he had spoken with some of the investors in ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent, about possibly rolling over their stake. of the video game giant Activision Blizzard, also reportedly has been looking for potential partners for a bid.

Persons: What’s, ”, DealBook, Steven Mnuchin, Andrew, Bill Ford, Bobby Kotick Organizations: ByteDance’s U.S, U.S, Susquehanna International Group, CNBC, Activision Locations: Beijing, China, ByteDance

Though its fate in the Senate is unclear, anti-China sentiment and pressure on lawmakers from the White House could force the issue. That belies the technical and legal hurdles in selling TikTok, as well as divisions within the U.S. tech community over the proposed legislation. The heads of the chamber’s Intelligence Committee — Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, and Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida — support the bill. So do the sometimes progressive John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, and the hawkish Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas. It’s long overdue to push back and this bill does exactly that,” Fetterman posted on social media.

Persons: Mark Warner, Marco Rubio, John Fetterman, Ted Cruz, ” Fetterman Organizations: TikTok, Senate, chamber’s Intelligence, Democrat, Republican Locations: Washington, China, Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas

TikTok faces a crucial voteThe House is set to vote on Wednesday on a bill that would ostensibly present ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, with an ultimatum: sell TikTok’s U.S. operations, or have the app barred. But there’s a fight brewing over whether it’s actually possible for ByteDance to sell TikTok — or if the bill is effectively a ban disguised as a call for divestment. Does the bill allow for a sale? The proposal forbids any deal that allows TikTok’s U.S. and foreign operations to cooperate on a content recommendation algorithm or share data. While TikTok says it already walls off the data of U.S. users from its parent company, it’s not clear the company could operate without any foreign support.

Persons: it’s, ” TikTok, TikTok Organizations: TikTok’s U.S Locations: U.S, United States

Trump’s TikTok U-turnTikTok users have continued to flood the social media platform — and lawmakers’ inboxes — with pleas to halt a bill that would force its Chinese owners to divest or face a ban in the U.S.That effort to keep TikTok online has now attracted some unlikely backers, including Donald Trump. A recap: Last week, a powerful House committee voted 50-0 to remove TikTok from U.S. app stores by Sept. 30 unless its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, sold its stake. President Biden said on Friday that he’d sign the bill if it reaches his desk — even as his campaign has embraced the platform. But Trump has potentially scrambled the political calculus in Washington. Starting last week, the former president has pushed back against a TikTok ban, arguing that such a move would strengthen Meta’s Facebook — the “true Enemy of the People!” (Remember that as president, Trump issued an executive order ordering ByteDance to divest its American assets.)

Persons: ’ inboxes, Donald Trump, Biden, Trump Organizations: Facebook Locations: U.S, Beijing, Washington

Biden goes on the offensivePresident Biden sought to reinvigorate his re-election campaign, delivering an animated and mostly gaffe-free State of the Union address that put the economy and business front and center. In the prime-time slot, he pitched Bidenomics as delivering for Americans, and outlined a policy wish list that may appeal to progressive voters and some in his party but which could also put him at loggerheads with big corporations. Heading into a November rematch with Donald Trump, Biden sought to frame the presidential race in stark terms for the democracy while holding business to account. Among the areas that could rankle business leaders: a call to raise the minimum tax on multinationals to 21 percent. He also singled out “Big Oil, private jets, and massive executive pay” in his speech as areas ripe for boosting tax revenue.

Persons: Biden, Donald Trump, ” Organizations: Oil

Inflationary pressure and presidential politicsPresident Biden and Donald Trump dominated Super Tuesday, setting the stage for a rematch of the 2020 election. One topic that’s high on the agenda for voters: Inflation. Inflation is kryptonite for any politician, and especially for Biden. Trump again pounded the president on high prices, an issue that’s lifting the Republican in polls even as a range of indicators show that the economy is performing strongly. (The White House is putting the blame on corporations that “try to rip off Americans.” Watch for that theme at Thursday’s State of the Union address.)

Persons: Biden, Donald Trump, Jay Powell, Trump Organizations: Super, Biden, ” Locations: Thursday’s State

Two names are likely to draw attention: LeBron James, the superstar basketball player, and Drake, the rapper. James and Drake are committing additional capital as “strategic investors,” and are expected to use their marketing power to help the tour broaden its audience. James and the PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, were at the home of Tom Werner, F.S.G.’s chairman, recently discussing just that, DealBook hears. Fans may see the stars around the greens, perhaps in the same way Drake is a frequent courtside presence at Toronto Raptors games. I remember some of my best childhood memories was being on the golf course with my uncle,” Drake said in a statement to DealBook.

Persons: LIV Golf, wasn’t, LeBron James, Drake, Steve Cohen, Arthur Blank, Marc Lasry, James, Jay Monahan, Tom Werner, F.S.G, ’, DealBook, ” Drake, “, ” Organizations: Fenway Sports Group, PGA, PGA Tour, Toronto Raptors Locations: Saudi

Musk takes aim at OpenAIThe gloves have really come off in one of the most personal fights in the tech world: Elon Musk has sued OpenAI and its C.E.O., Sam Altman, accusing them of reneging on the start-up’s original purpose of being a nonprofit laboratory for the technology. Yes, Musk has disagreed with Altman for years about the purpose of the organization they co-founded and he is creating a rival artificial intelligence company. But the lawsuit also appears rooted in philosophical differences that go to the heart of who controls a hugely transformative technology — and is backed by one of the wealthiest men on the planet. The backstory: Musk, Altman and others agreed to create OpenAI in 2015 to provide an open-sourced alternative to the likes of Google, which had bought the leading A.I. start-up DeepMind the year before.

Persons: Elon Musk, OpenAI, Sam Altman, Musk, Altman, Ilya Sutskever Organizations: Google

More questions for OpenAISam Altman has been back as OpenAI’s C.E.O. for three months, running one of the world’s most important tech companies at the forefront of the artificial intelligence boom. But a report by The Wall Street Journal that the S.E.C. is investigating whether Altman misled investors is a reminder that OpenAI and its hyper-ambitious chief face a level of scrutiny that could dent their global plans. isn’t the only regulator looking at the Altman drama: Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have also been asking questions, according to The Journal.

Persons: OpenAI Sam Altman, Altman, Altman’s Organizations: Wall Street Journal Locations: Manhattan

Innovation on wheelsHas Apple really crashed the car? The tech giant has killed its electric vehicle project as it pivots to artificial intelligence, prompting many observers to declare the venture a major failure for the company. Here’s a contrarian thought: That critique misses a wider point about how Apple innovates, because the company has used the project to power a whole ecosystem of products and services that have been unmitigated successes. Reports emerged about the secret effort, code-named Project Titan, in 2014, and the company has never publicly acknowledged its existence. There had been an wider internal debate about getting into the car business.

Organizations: Apple

So the White House probably cheered a move by the F.T.C. and several states on Monday to block Kroger’s $25 billion bid to buy Albertsons, arguing that the biggest supermarket merger in U.S. history would raise prices and hit union workers’ bargaining power. The Biden administration has little influence over inflation, but it’s still getting heat. Consumers are spending the highest proportion of their income on food in 30 years, and an internal White House analysis found that grocery prices had the biggest impact on consumer sentiment. The Fed has jacked up interest rates to a 20-year-high in an effort to cool inflation, but progress on that has slowed in recent months.

Persons: Biden’s, Biden, it’s Organizations: Kroger, Albertsons Locations: U.S

Toeing the line in Miami BeachAmerica’s corporate elite were everywhere in Miami at the Future Investment Initiative conference, Saudi Arabia’s latest bid to showcase its extensive wealth and deepen ties with Western business. DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch was on hand to report on the financiers and Hollywood A-listers who made the trip. The Saudis are using their vast oil wealth to become one the world’s biggest investors and forge closer relationships with Wall Street, Silicon Valley and more. (So too did former Trump officials including Steven Mnuchin, the former Treasury secretary; Mike Pompeo, a previous secretary of state; and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.) Attendees mingled over wine, which is banned in Saudi Arabia, and Carbone’s spicy rigatoni.

Persons: Jamal Khashoggi —, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch, Steve Schwarzman, Blackstone, Barry Sternlicht, Alex Karp, Brian Grazer, Gwyneth Paltrow, Steven Mnuchin, Mike Pompeo, Jared Kushner, Trump’s Organizations: Future Investment Initiative, Saudi, Hollywood, Starwood, Palantir, Trump, Treasury Locations: Miami Beach, Miami, Silicon Valley, Saudi Arabia

ImageReddit’s bet on RedditorsReddit is the latest company set to test the uncertain I.P.O. market, after the unprofitable social media company built around an avid community of newshounds, cryptocurrency devotees and reality TV fans filed to go public. The company is seeking a valuation of at least $5 billion and DealBook sifted through its prospectus to figure out its pitch to investors. demand that’s fueling a global stock market rally. But whether that’s enough to push Reddit to become profitable is a big question hanging over the listing.

Persons: Reddit, Google that’s Organizations: Google Locations: newshounds, A.I

supercycleFor now, Nvidia is living up to the lofty title that Goldman Sachs bestowed on it this week — “the most important stock on planet Earth” — after its blowout earnings report. Markets are looking up today, as are investors’ and governments’ hopes for the artificial intelligence boom, as strong demand for the chipmaker’s products suggest that there’s more room for the trend to run. Nvidia is up 13 percent in premarket trading after results that surpassed high analyst expectations (and spurred a torrent of exuberant memes). Jensen Huang, the company’s C.E.O., said that Nvidia was seeing a “tipping point” in demand for A.I.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, ’, Jensen Huang Organizations: Nvidia

Investors brace for “fireworks”The stock price of the chip giant Nvidia has marched steadily higher over the past year and a half, propelled by investors’ hopes that artificial intelligence is truly transformative technology — and by their hope that the company’s high-end semiconductors will continue to power that technology. But in recent days, the company became the third most valuable listed company in the U.S., only to slump back to fifth. Its shares will face another big test on Wednesday, when Nvidia announces its latest quarterly earnings, with billions in investor capital on the line. After seeing the stock more than double since May on the back of huge demand for Nvidia’s chips, investors are wondering if it’s close to peaking. Opinion on Wall Street appears divided: Bloomberg reports that options traders have piled into both put options, whose value rises as a stock’s price falls, and call options.

Persons: ’, Brace, ” Jim Reid Organizations: Nvidia, Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank Locations: U.S

Challenges, and opportunities, for a financial megadealCapital One’s $35.3 billion takeover to buy Discover Financial Services will create a colossus in the fast-growing credit card industry and a more powerful force in the payment networks that underpin the consumer economy. That will almost surely invite tough scrutiny from a Washington that is increasingly skeptical of big financial mergers. But continuing scrutiny of the two biggest payment networks in the U.S., Visa and Mastercard, may complicate the regulatory math. The deal: Capital One agreed to pay 1.0192 of its shares for each share of Discover, a roughly 26 percent premium to Friday’s trading prices. If completed, the transaction would become a giant among credit card lenders, with Bloomberg estimating that the combined company would outstrip JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup in U.S. card loan volume.

Organizations: Discover Financial, Visa, Mastercard, Capital, Bloomberg, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, U.S Locations: Washington, U.S

But few foresaw JPMorgan Chase and State Street quitting Climate Action 100+, a global investment coalition that has been pushing companies to decarbonize. All told, the moves amount to a nearly $14 trillion exit from an organization meant to marshal Wall Street’s clout to expand the climate agenda. Representative Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who compared the coalition to a “cartel” forcing businesses to cut emissions, called for more financial companies to follow suit. JPMorgan said it had built an in-house sustainable investment team to focus on green issues. And BlackRock will maintain some ties to the coalition: It has transferred its membership to an international entity.

Persons: Wall, Jim Jordan, Brad Lander, they’re Organizations: JPMorgan Chase, State, Ohio Republican, JPMorgan Locations: BlackRock, Brad Lander , New York

Elon Musk continues his flight from “the First State”Another Elon Musk-led company has moved its home base from Delaware as the tech billionaire continues to criticize the state after a judge there voided his nearly $56 billion payday at Tesla. Moving the incorporation of SpaceX, Musk’s privately held rocket giant, to Texas will help bolster the Lone Star State’s standing with business. Musk is making good on his threat to pull out of the state. It comes shortly after he relocated the incorporation of Neuralink, his brain implant company, to Nevada. Musk endorsed that view, writing that having a Delaware incorporation is a “guarantee of spurious litigation.”

Persons: Elon Musk, Elon, Musk’s, Tesla, ” Organizations: Tesla, SpaceX, Lone Star Locations: Delaware, Texas, Neuralink, Nevada, America

“No landing”Markets are still on edge after Tuesday’s hot inflation report, as Wall Street suddenly and sharply discounted the odds of imminent interest rate cuts. It has also poured cold water on the belief among many investors that the U.S. economy will achieve a “soft landing.”Why so gloomy? The Consumer Price Index report, which came in above economists’ forecasts, is a stark reminder of the challenges that the Fed faces in bringing down inflation to its 2 percent target. Even after excluding volatile energy and food prices, inflation is holding roughly steady and is well above where the central bank feels comfortable. Shelter costs, including rents, also rose above expectations, and “supercore inflation,” a measure the Fed closely follows that includes common “services” expenditures — like haircuts and lawyer fees — rose 4.3 year-on-year, its highest level since May, according to Deutsche Bank data.

Organizations: Deutsche Bank Locations: U.S

Inflation back in the spotlightAn S&P 500 on a five-week winning streak. And growing consumer and business optimism. Cooling inflation, which would stoke investor hopes that the Fed would soon lower borrowing costs. The prospects of that economic ideal will be tested on Tuesday with the release of fresh Consumer Price Index data. reading of 2.9 percent for January on an annualized basis, its smallest gain since April 2021.

Persons: it’s Organizations: Fed Locations: U.S

scores bigIn many ways, the N.F.L. couldn’t have asked for a better outcome for the Super Bowl. The game was a place to see and be seen. Yes, Swift arrived in time from Japan to cheer on her boyfriend, the Chiefs star Travis Kelce. And A-list celebrities like Jay-Z, Beyoncé and LeBron James were spotted at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Persons: couldn’t, Usher, Taylor Swift, Swift, Travis Kelce, Jay, LeBron James, Elon Musk —, Tim Cook, Jack Dorsey Organizations: Super, Kansas City Chiefs, Chiefs, Elon, Apple, Twitter Locations: Japan, Las Vegas

In the past 24 hours, President Biden has taken questions (and heat) on his age, memory and mental fitness. Big questions still hang over the law, which many Americans appear not to know exists. And can the law survive a potential Trump second term? One reason: There’s huge demand for the credits and subsidies created by the law for building solar, hydrogen and nuclear energy projects, as well as discounts for buying electric vehicles. (An analysis by Goldman Sachs last fall showed that the law led to about $282 billion in investment and roughly 175,000 jobs in its first year.)

Persons: Biden, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Trump, Congressional, Office

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