TikTok’s impending ban poses a financial nightmare for Google, Apple – and other US tech firms linked to China’s ByteDance

TikTok’s impending ban poses a multibillion-dollar headache for app store operators Apple and Google — as well as other big tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon that count its Chinese parent company ByteDance as a business partner.

The Biden administration effectively blamed enforcement of the law, which takes effect Sunday, on President-elect Donald Trump, who officially takes office the next day and has vowed to preserve the app.

On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected TikTok’s appeal and upheld the law, ruling that it does not violate the First Amendment.

By law, Google and Apple must stop allowing new TikTok downloads — with potential fines of $5,000 per user if they don’t comply.

pa Tom Cotton — the outspoken Arkansas Republican who has supported the national ban — suggested that companies should be wary of ignoring the law even with assurances from key lawmakers that they won’t be on the hook for penalties.

“Penalties for companies like Apple and Google could reach up to 850 billion dollars. I’m not sure I’d take a politician’s word for it if I ran those companies,” he wrote in X.

In addition to the immediate risks, Google and Apple will have to weigh the possibility that Trump or a future president might later decide to take action against them for violating the law, experts told The Post.

Google declined to comment on its plans. Apple representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

The Supreme Court noted in its unanimous decision that “Congress has determined that stripping is necessary to address its well-founded national security concerns about TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with an adversary of foreign”.

In addition to the implications for Google and Apple, the Supreme Court’s decision adds new complications for Big Tech firms that have problematic “entanglements” with TikTok and ByteDance, according to Geoffrey Cain, policy director at the Tech Integrity Project and author of “The Perfect Police “. State.”

“Given the unanimous decision that these Chinese firms are national security threats, it’s time for Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and others to cut ties,” Cain told The Post.

In November, the House Select Committee on China criticized Amazon for entering into a “dangerous and reckless” e-commerce partnership with TikTok.

TikTok is also one of the biggest customers for Microsoft’s cloud and AI services — and was paying nearly $20 million a month for access to OpenAI models through Microsoft as of last July, The Information reported. Microsoft previously faced heat for collaborating with ByteDance on an AI project called KubeRay.

Oracle provides cloud computing support for TikTok and once partnered with the company on Project Texas — an ill-fated effort to convince lawmakers that the app was safe from Chinese spying by storing all data about Americans on American soil.

Elsewhere, Reuters reported last month that Apple was in early talks with Chinese firms, including ByteDance, to roll out AI features in China.

Representatives for the House select committee on China, TikTok, Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle did not immediately return requests for comment.

If TikTok goes dark, social media giants like Facebook and Instagram parent Meta, Snap and Google-owned YouTube are in line to benefit from an influx of customers.

The law passed by Congress last April requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest its stake entirely or face a ban in January. 19. The law allowed Biden to extend the deadline by 90 days if there were signs of progress toward a deal — but no such progress materialized.

Cotton noted these conditions in his warning to TikTok activists.

“The only reasons for a 90-day extension are (a) significant progress (b) in legally binding agreements (c) to close a sale in 90 days. None of these have happened,” he wrote.

Trump is said to be considering an executive order that would further delay implementation of the law for 60 to 90 days while he tries to facilitate a sale to a US buyer.

It is currently unclear whether an executive order of this type would face legal scrutiny.

TikTok is reportedly planning to take its app offline after the clock turns to midnight on Sunday and redirect users to a website with details of the ban.

The move would go beyond the scope of the congressional law, which only requires app store providers like Google and Apple to stop downloads.

The app will remain usable for a period for people who have already downloaded it, but the service will gradually degrade due to a lack of product support and updates.

TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew will attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday and will sit alongside other tech titans like Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook.