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January 19, 2025, 7:40 AM

Top News

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
TikTok is not available for download in the App Store and Play Store in the US, as the app halts service in the country to comply with the divest-or-ban law  —  Apple and Google removed TikTok from their app stores Saturday night, complying with a law requiring China's ByteDance to divest …
NBC News:
ByteDance's TikTok and CapCut suspend service in the US, telling users “Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok”  —  Users reported being unable to access TikTok Saturday after a pop-up message from the company came up on their screens saying “a law banning TikTok has been enacted.”
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Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Card game Marvel Snap, published by ByteDance-owned Nuverse, cuts off access for US gamers, as the TikTok divest-or-ban law impacts other ByteDance-linked apps  —  The divest-or-ban law aimed at TikTok is also taking down other ByteDance-linked apps, including the popular card game Marvel Snap.
NBC News:
Trump says he will “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve after he takes office on Monday “because it's appropriate”  —  Trump spoke to NBC News' Kristen Welker in an exclusive phone interview Saturday, discussing his plans on what to do about the popular social media app.
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Nitish Pahwa / Slate:
The messy TikTok saga in the US over the past five years has shown that lawmakers are as spineless and skittish as everyone suspects them to be  —  Well, that escalated slowly over the course of four years.  —  It is 2020.  The United States government threatens to forbid access …
Will Oremus / Washington Post:
TikTok bans in countries around the world have played out quite differently; Instagram Reels largely replaced TikTok in India, following TikTok's ban in 2020  —  India's 2020 crackdown helped give rise to Instagram Reels, which has largely replaced it there.  But TikTok has proved more resilient elsewhere.
Hayden Field / CNBC:
Source: Perplexity AI made a TikTok US bid to ByteDance, proposing a merger that brings video to Perplexity, with ByteDance investors retaining their stakes  —  Perplexity AI officially made a play for TikTok on Saturday, submitting a bid to its parent company, ByteDance …
Politico:
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Axios:
Andrew Hayward / Decrypt:
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Mackenzie Hawkins / Bloomberg:
US officials have struck binding deals for 85% of the CHIPS Act funding; sources: Gina Raimondo said her successor, Howard Lutnick, is committed to the program  —  - Officials have struck binding contracts for 85% of grant money  — Trump Commerce pick told Raimondo he's committed to program

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