Technology
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Technology
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Trump expects TikTok 'deal' ahead of deadline
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President Trump indicated he expects to reach a deal on TikTok ahead of an April 5 deadline to begin enforcing a ban on the popular video-sharing app.
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© Damian Dovarganes, Associated Press file
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When asked aboard Air Force One whether he would extend the deadline if necessary, the president said, “There’ll be a deal with TikTok,” adding “we would,” seemingly in response to the extension question.
“We’re working on TikTok,” Trump said. “We have a lot of potential buyers. There’s tremendous interest in TikTok.”
“We’re dealing with China also on it because they may have something to do with it. And we’ll see how that goes,” he added. “But it’s something I think you’re going to have, I’d like to see TikTok remain alive.”
A law banning the app is set to go into effect Saturday. The law, passed by large bipartisan majorities in Congress last April, requires TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest from the app or face a ban on U.S. networks and app stores.
It was initially meant to take effect on Jan. 19, just one day before Trump’s inauguration. However, former President Biden declined to enforce the law in his final days in office, and Trump signed an executive order giving TikTok a 75-day reprieve amid a push by the new administration to strike a deal.
Trump's campaign utilized TikTok during his 2024 bid, and the White House has previously told The Hill it would use the video-sharing app itself if the parent company divested.
Numerous buyers have made offers for the app, although Larry Ellison’s Oracle has emerged as a top contender, according to multiple media outlets.
Read more in a report at TheHill.com.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we're Miranda Nazzaro and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
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How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:
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Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said there is “no question” that the information shared on the Signal group chat with high-level defense officials was classified. “Absolutely,” Warner said in an interview on ABC News’s “This Week” when asked whether the information in the group chat, which inadvertently included The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, was classified. “It was …
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President Trump slammed the media for its “never-ending” coverage of the Signal group chat leak, calling it “old and boring.” In a post Sunday on Truth Social, Trump praised Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, after he pushed back on NBC host Kristen Welker over the matter. “A GREAT job by Senator Markwayne Mullin on beating back Kristen Welker’s, and the Radical Left’s Witch Hunt, …
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Tech billionaire and White House adviser Elon Musk said Sunday that the wave of anti-Tesla vandalism launched in response to his role in President Trump’s administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is “insane.” “They’re burning Teslas and shooting up dealerships and calling for the death of the president and me. I’m like, guys, you know this is insane,” Musk, who owns automaker …
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News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
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Hillary Clinton joins Bluesky, weighs in on Wisconsin Supreme Court race (TechCrunch)
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OpenAI plans to launch open-weight model in coming months (Reuters)
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Trump family eyes bitcoin mining in latest venture
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© AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File
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Welcome to Crypto Corner, a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.
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Two of President Trump's sons are taking on a new cryptocurrency venture as the family expands its work in the digital assets space.
Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. announced on Monday they struck a deal with bitcoin mining company Hut 8 to start a new company, American Bitcoin Corp.
The new company will focus on "industrial-scale Bitcoin mining and strategic Bitcoin reserve development."
"From the start, we've backed our conviction in Bitcoin -- personally and through our businesses," Trump Jr. said in a statement. "But simply buying Bitcoin is only half the story. Mining it on favorable economics opens an even bigger opportunity."
Eric Trump, who will serve as the company's chief strategy officer, pointed to Hut 8's "proven operational excellence in data centers," in Monday's announcement.
What is Bitcoin mining? This is the process used to create new bitcoins and verify Bitcoin transactions to be officially entered onto the blockchain.
- It involves the computation of complex mathematical problems using software and requires vast amounts of energy as a result.
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It can be very lucrative but faces scrutiny from environmental organizations as a result of its energy demand.
Look back: This is the third crypto business venture the Trump family has pursued as the president promises to make the United States the "crypto capital of the world."
Trump and his sons launched a crypto company called World Liberty Financial last year, while the president and first lady launched meme coins shortly before Inauguration Day.
The ventures align with Trump's official presidential actions seeking to boost the cryptocurrency industry.
Trump later signed an executive order creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve and a digital assets stockpile, fulfilling a promise he made on the campaign trail last year.
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Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
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Musk says he is giving out two $1 million checks to ‘get attention’ from ‘legacy media’
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Tech billionaire Elon Musk handed out oversized $1 million checks to two attendees of his town hall in Wisconsin on Sunday evening, saying the stunt is cheaper and more effective than paying for the same amount of media coverage. “The reason for the checks is that it’s really just to get attention. It’s like, we need to get attention. And it’s somewhat inevitably, when I do this, these things… it causes the …
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Two key stories on The Hill right now:
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President Trump can’t stop talking about the prospect of a third term. Trump over the weekend spoke at length in an interview with NBC News about the … Read more
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Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced a bill Monday to limit the scope of judicial rulings, the latest in a string of GOP bills … Read more
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Opinions related to tech submitted to The Hill:
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!
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