TikTok plans to remove its app from American users on Sunday in anticipation of a potential federal ban on the social media platform, according to the Information report.
TakeAway Points:
- TikTok intends to withdraw its app from American users on Sunday in preparation for a possible government ban on the social media company.
- Adebayo Ogunlesi, a founding partner of Global Infrastructure Partners, or GIP, will join OpenAI’s board, the company announced Tuesday.
- This is the most recent step in OpenAI’s drive for a for-profit organisation.
- BlackRock announced a year ago that it was buying GIP for $12 billion. Ogunlesi is now senior managing director at BlackRock.
TikTok service might end in US
If TikTok shuts off for all U.S. users, the outcome would be different from that mandated by the law. The law would mandate a ban only on new TikTok downloads on Apple or Google app stores while existing users could still continue using the app for some time.
Under TikTok’s plan, people attempting to open the app will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
TikTok also plans to give users the option to download all their data so that they can take a record of their personal information with them, the report said.
President Joe Biden had in April last year signed a law requiring Bytedance to sell its U.S. assets by Jan. 19, 2025 or face a nationwide ban.
The companies have sought, at the very least, a delay in implementation of the law, which they say violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protection against government abridgement of free speech.
TikTok said in a court filing last month that it estimates one-third of the 170 million Americans using its app would stop accessing the platform if the ban lasts a month.
BlackRock Executive Joins OpenAI Board Of Directors
Adebayo Ogunlesi, a senior managing director at BlackRock, will join OpenAI’s board of directors, the business announced Tuesday. This is the most recent development in the company’s transition to a for-profit organisation.
Ogunlesi is a founding partner of Global Infrastructure Partners, an infrastructure investing firm that was acquired by BlackRock last year for $12 billion. Before helping to start GIP in 2006, Ogunlesi spent 23 years at Credit Suisse.
“The rapid advancement and development of AI offers a unique opportunity to build a better future,” Ogunlesi said in OpenAI’s announcement Tuesday. “As part of this, thoughtful strategies and investment in infrastructure will be key to unlocking AI’s full potential and delivering its benefits responsibly. I’m excited to contribute to this effort and look forward to being a part of the OpenAI Board.”
For OpenAI, the addition of Ogunlesi to its board marks another step in its dramatic transformation to a for-profit company. The board has been almost entirely revamped since late 2023, when CEO Sam Altman was abruptly ousted before being quickly reinstated.
Changes in OpenAI
Former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, who was chairman at Twitter before its purchase by Elon Musk, became chair of OpenAI after the Altman ordeal in November 2023. Larry Summers, a former Treasury secretary, joined at the same time. Last year, the board added several new faces, including Instacart CEO Fidji Simo and Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, now known as the Gates Foundation.
OpenAI, which was founded as a nonprofit in 2015, said in late December that it will create a public benefit corporation to oversee commercial operations, removing some of its nonprofit restrictions and allowing it to function more like a high-growth startup.
Last year, OpenAI was valued at $157 billion as it continued rolling out updated large language models and new tools after kicking off the generative artificial intelligence boom in late 2022.
The company said that by transforming into a Delaware PBC “with ordinary shares of stock,” it can pursue commercial operations while separately hiring a staff for its nonprofit arm and allowing that wing to take on charitable activities in health care, education and science, OpenAI said in December.
Musk, one of OpenAI’s co-founders, is suing to try and stop OpenAI from converting into a full-profit business.
Ogunlesi’s other board positions include BlackRock, Topgolf Callaway Brands, Kosmos Energy Holdings and Terminal Investment Ltd.
