Donald Trump returns as US President: TikTok ban delayed, AI regulations revoked, other sweeping tech changes
financialexpress.comDonald Trump has officially returned as the President of the United States, and his first day in office was packed with a “historic” flurry of big decisions including ones with potential to change the course of technology as we know it.
On January 20, as soon as he assumed power as the 47th President of the U.S., Trump signed as many as 80 executive orders. One of them gives his administration 75 days to decide the fate of TikTok in the country. The other—and technically more complex decision—revokes an AI safety order signed by Joe Biden, signaling a shift in the country’s approach to artificial intelligence (AI).
The short-format-video sharing app TikTok, which has about 170 million users in the U.S., faced a ban under a law signed by President Biden in 2023 over national security concerns. The law required TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. operations or shut down the app altogether.
Just before the ban was set to take effect on January 19, TikTok was briefly taken offline for U.S. users, with both Google and Apple pulling off the app from their respective app stores preventing new downloads and updates. However, Trump’s order on January 20 delayed enforcement of the ban by 75 days opening possibilities for fresh negotiations.
But Trump’s relief comes with a catch for TikTok. He suggested that the U.S. government should take a 50% stake in TikTok’s U.S. business, saying that if the U.S. is creating value for the company, it should get a share of the profits. He also threatened tariffs on China if Beijing does not approve a U.S. deal for TikTok. His administration is set to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada from February 1, according to media reports.
TikTok has thanked Trump
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