❌ Is Biden banning TikTok?

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TOP STORY
📱 Did President Biden just ban TikTok?

On Wednesday, President Biden signed the “TikTok Ban” bill, which means that TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, will have nine months to divest from its U.S. operations.

Basically… if ByteDance does not sell TikTok to a U.S. company ASAP, the app will be banned.

While it may be a pain in the butt for all you TikTok Shop addicts and wannabe influencers, this move can make a lot of sense for the U.S. government.

Since the app exploded a few years ago, the U.S. government has grown increasingly nervous about the Chinese government forcing ByteDance to share TikTok user data.

While you may think that your mindless scrolling isn't valuable info, it can actually be used for evil in several ways.

• First, if the wrong people access this data, it could result in identity theft, financial fraud, and other security problems for individuals.
  

• Not a crazy concern considering everyone gets scam calls, texts, and emails coming out of the wazoo anyways, but still not great.
   

• The real concern is that on a national level, if a foreign government unfriendly to the U.S., like China, obtains a large amount of American data, they could use it to spy, influence public opinion, or disrupt political and economic matters.

Just imagine how terrible it’d be if social media impacted our election...

While ByteDance has promised that it has never shared information with the Chinese government, it’s pretty hard to take their word for it.

Especially with the app looking so different in China from the U.S., you’re not fooling anyone, guys.

ENTERTAINMENT
🤖 Drake and Kendrick Lamar's ongoing beef has a brand new player: AI.

The feud has been ongoing since 2013, but a brand new chapter began this past October.

Here’s a very brief timeline:

• October 6, 2023: Drake drops "First Person Shooter," featuring J. Cole.

• March 22, 2024: Kendrick responds with a feature on Future’s album, “We Don’t Trust You,” calling out Drake and J. Cole.

• April 13, 2024: Drake releases an alleged AI-generated diss track against Kendrick Lamar called “Push Ups.”

• April 20, 2024: Drake’s Taylor Made Freestyle" drops featuring AI-generated vocals of legendary rappers Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg.

• April 24, 2024: Tupac Shakur’s estate threatens to sue Drake over the AI-generated feature.

Drake's open use of AI is a major step for the music industry and raises a pretty big question… is this a good or bad thing?

ENTERTAINMENT
🏀 The NBA is looking for a new media partner

Earlier this week, the NBA announced that it will not renew its current media rights deal with Disney ($DIS) and Warner Bros. Discovery ($WBD), which expires after the 2024/2025 season.

• For the past few years, the NBA has granted Disney (ESPN, ABC) and Warner Bros. (TNT, TBS) the right to broadcast around 150 games each year.

• The NBA benefited from a massive $2.7 billion annual payout, part of a nine-year, $24 billion agreement.

While the NBA has undoubtedly been making bank, the media giants may have gotten away with the better end of the deal.

Each regular-season game they cover consistently reaches millions of basketball fans weekly, and the deal also allows them to broadcast the NBA playoffs, a major win considering the average playoff game attracts about 5.5 million viewers.

Regardless of who’s “winning the deal,” the NBA is still making major dough, so why not keep it going?

• The NBA is seeking a new multiyear deal expected to be worth a whopping $50-75 million.

• Netflix ($NFLX), Apple ($AAPL), NBC ($CMCSA), YouTube TV ($GOOG), and Amazon are just some of the companies reportedly interested in getting in on the league’s new media rights deal.

While it’s definitely steep, the price makes sense. With production costs increasing and social media consuming more attention than ever, sports is likely the safest content bet, providing a consistent customer base and revenue stream.

Here’s what else you might’ve missed…

Champion ($CHMP) sold to Authentic Brands Group for ~$1 billion.

Apple ($AAPL) and FIFA closing in on a $1 billion streaming deal.

Netflix ($NFLX) is hosting a Tom Brady roast.

Steph Curry’s ‘Unanimous Media’ produces a documentary on Canelo Alvarez.