White House administration set to be paid $10B for brokering TikTok deal(theguardian.com)
theguardian.com
White House administration set to be paid $10B for brokering TikTok deal
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/14/tiktok-trump-administration-10bn
23 comments
Not really. This only works because the US market is valuable. A tech company can simply leave the market rather than sell. Just like tiktok would have been free to shut down in the USA.
The USA market belongs to the US, though, and other people are free to play by the rules or simply leave.
The USA market belongs to the US, though, and other people are free to play by the rules or simply leave.
Have you looked at the financial reports of those companies recently? US is the largest revenue stream but nowhere dominant.
USA is headed to have companies that used to serve 3-5 billion people markets to shrink to 0.35 billion market. US also doesn’t produce that much, unlike EU and China so when this system breaks those 0.35 billion people aren’t going to be as valuable as today.
Open regime change calls, attempts to manipulate elections, trying to start civil wars - it’s brewing.
The software industry is about to be decimated by AI anyway and US isn’t ahead in AI in any meaningful sense. When the status quo shatters there’s a good chance that tech would not be American industry anymore. The hardware too is made in China with European tooling. USA used to have an amazing brand but that’s being destroyed at outstanding pace.
Just like the way tech workers should have revolted against WFH instead of embracing it, the tech capitalist should also revolt against the breaking of the order. Both are extremely short sighted.
USA is headed to have companies that used to serve 3-5 billion people markets to shrink to 0.35 billion market. US also doesn’t produce that much, unlike EU and China so when this system breaks those 0.35 billion people aren’t going to be as valuable as today.
Open regime change calls, attempts to manipulate elections, trying to start civil wars - it’s brewing.
The software industry is about to be decimated by AI anyway and US isn’t ahead in AI in any meaningful sense. When the status quo shatters there’s a good chance that tech would not be American industry anymore. The hardware too is made in China with European tooling. USA used to have an amazing brand but that’s being destroyed at outstanding pace.
Just like the way tech workers should have revolted against WFH instead of embracing it, the tech capitalist should also revolt against the breaking of the order. Both are extremely short sighted.
> it’s brewing.
Brewing, always brewing. Never measurable results.
> The software industry is about to be decimated by AI anyway and US isn’t ahead in AI in any meaningful sense.
The US has been far ahead, in terms of actual companies being made actually. China has some models, sure, but the EU is nothing. I have never heard less about the EU and their companies than in the last few years.
All talk, no results. Always years away, but never now.
Brewing, always brewing. Never measurable results.
> The software industry is about to be decimated by AI anyway and US isn’t ahead in AI in any meaningful sense.
The US has been far ahead, in terms of actual companies being made actually. China has some models, sure, but the EU is nothing. I have never heard less about the EU and their companies than in the last few years.
All talk, no results. Always years away, but never now.
I'm afraid things no longer are going to be the same
Indeed, this time for sure! All that current evidence that we have that shows otherwise? Doesn't matter! The fact that the trends are actually going the opposite, meaning that the USA is actually pulling out even further ahead? That doesn't count!
I don't know what you think US is pulling ahead of. Probably some proxy numbers that don't mean what you think they mean because on everything that matter US looks like a collapsing empire.
Yes any excuse to ignore quantitative metrics. Always switch to the vagueries as opposed to the numbers.
This isn't even going into how all of our geopolitical enemies have lost in the relevant wars.
Who's even left at this point? I guess China kind of, but they have always been a saber rattler and not a doer, as they let their "allies" like Iran fall apart.
They always try with proxies not direct action, and now every proxy has collapsed.
The really funny part is that I only started hearing about this collapsing empire narrative after every.ije of our enemies has been bombed to smitherines.
My guess is that it's a desperate cope, to avoid having to deal with the on the ground reality of all the bombed out ruins of the groups that oppose the US.
This isn't even going into how all of our geopolitical enemies have lost in the relevant wars.
Who's even left at this point? I guess China kind of, but they have always been a saber rattler and not a doer, as they let their "allies" like Iran fall apart.
They always try with proxies not direct action, and now every proxy has collapsed.
The really funny part is that I only started hearing about this collapsing empire narrative after every.ije of our enemies has been bombed to smitherines.
My guess is that it's a desperate cope, to avoid having to deal with the on the ground reality of all the bombed out ruins of the groups that oppose the US.
> US also doesn’t produce that much, unlike EU and China
China OK. But a criticism we hear all the time inside the EU is that manufacturing is gone and that the number one export of the number one economy in the EU --that'd be cars from Germany-- are taking a serious beat up atm.
> The software industry is about to be decimated by AI anyway and US isn’t ahead in AI in any meaningful sense.
How is it not? China has some models but it's basically US, US, and more US: Google, Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI... With chips made by NVidia and Google. So US and still more US. Is that not basically it?
The EU loves to posture a lot but until I see that turd that Windows is kicked out of all the EU institutions and Microsoft Office replaced for good by something else, I'm not believing it.
> USA used to have an amazing brand but that’s being destroyed at outstanding pace.
USA has 35 of the 50 biggest companies in the world ranked by market cap. China has 6 and the EU has... One! (Switzerland ain't the EU). One company for the EU in the top 50: that's ASML and even that is very mainly US owned.
I think you give the EU way too much credit and the US way too little.
China OK. But a criticism we hear all the time inside the EU is that manufacturing is gone and that the number one export of the number one economy in the EU --that'd be cars from Germany-- are taking a serious beat up atm.
> The software industry is about to be decimated by AI anyway and US isn’t ahead in AI in any meaningful sense.
How is it not? China has some models but it's basically US, US, and more US: Google, Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI... With chips made by NVidia and Google. So US and still more US. Is that not basically it?
The EU loves to posture a lot but until I see that turd that Windows is kicked out of all the EU institutions and Microsoft Office replaced for good by something else, I'm not believing it.
> USA used to have an amazing brand but that’s being destroyed at outstanding pace.
USA has 35 of the 50 biggest companies in the world ranked by market cap. China has 6 and the EU has... One! (Switzerland ain't the EU). One company for the EU in the top 50: that's ASML and even that is very mainly US owned.
I think you give the EU way too much credit and the US way too little.
Comparing country by market cap will always favours the US while oil is traded in dollars, especially since passive investment is so big and dollar debt is so big. You ought to compare them on efficiency and/or profitability.
If you really want to compare the biggest companies while including investors preferences (which mechanically favours the US, but it's fine in your case, your point is about US advantages, and the dollar is a big one), to account for AI and 'tech' (Tesla), EV/EBITDA is probably what you're looking for
If you really want to compare the biggest companies while including investors preferences (which mechanically favours the US, but it's fine in your case, your point is about US advantages, and the dollar is a big one), to account for AI and 'tech' (Tesla), EV/EBITDA is probably what you're looking for
edit to tone down the accusatory tone of my previous comment. In retrospect, the post was likely derailed due to a subthread discussion that appears to have been flagged.
Interesting in the sense that similar things happen all the time- stories get posted and either get no traction or else somebody starts a boisterous subthread with flags and downvotes that results in the HN algo downgrading "arguing".
FWiW it's currently #2 on https://hckrnews.com/ .. but that's chronology of submissions with votes, unweighted by comment numbers / arguments.
FWiW it's currently #2 on https://hckrnews.com/ .. but that's chronology of submissions with votes, unweighted by comment numbers / arguments.
A bribe by any other name would smell as foul.
“JD Vance has said the US version of TikTok is valued at about $14bn, meaning the fee taken by the government is closer to 70% of the deal.”
gnabgib(4)
I can’t believe the US took this route. EU is still trying to force open markets and rules based system but the future is gang rule.