Fmr #Trump treas sec #Mnuchin is telling investors he has a plan to buy #TikTok
Mnuchin told potential backers he aims to maneuver around its price of >$100B & #China’s ban of the export of recommendation #algorithms.
He indicated he could overcome those hurdles by offering to buy the #app w/o the export-blocked #code, essentially forcing his consortium to remake a service built on billions of lines of code.
Observers, & ≥1 person familiar w/the pitch, have said the idea is so far-fetched that it suggests a lack of familiarity w/how #tech companies work. #TikTok users flocked to the #app bc of its surprising suggestions for videos they might like, & there’s no guarantee any #Mnuchin-driven version could duplicate that success — or beat rivals like #Meta & #Google, who have worked for yrs to mirror the experience w/in their own respective apps, #Instagram & #YouTube. #algorithms#SocialMedia#policy
“Everyone wants to build a #TikTok-level #algorithm. That’s a key element of competition in… #tech …right now,” said Matt Perault, UNC prof & fmr #Facebook dir who studies tech #policy.
“…the biggest cos have thrown a lot of money & #engineering talent at that issue & have struggled to do it. If #Mnuchin thinks he can do that & succeed where…successful cos have struggled, good luck.”
Mnuchin, [is] a fmr hedge fund mngr & Hollywood producer w/no #SocialMedia experience….
It would be a return to the British system of the 18th century, where money and power is concentrated in a few, the landed gentry, who freed from inheritance tax, would be a permanent ruling class.
Update for the 21st century: Mnuchin and Zuckerberg control social media. Bezos and the Waltons control retail. The rest of us work and rent everything.
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