Bobby Kotickformer head Activity Blizzard is reportedly considering a purchase TikTokbecause the software may be banned in the United States. The Wall Street Journal reports that Kotick spoke with him ByteDanceThe company that owns TikTok is about to buy the app, which could cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
It comes as US lawmakers introduced a new bill that would have banned ByteDance from selling TikTok or making it available on US app stores for six months. President Joe Biden said he would approve the bill if it passes Congress.
The Wall Street Journal report adds that the head of Kotick OpenAI, Sam Altmandiscussed a merger to buy TikTok over dinner last week.
Kotick’s interest in TikTok comes after the rough end of 30-year leader Activision Blizzard, which Microsoft acquired last year. The company faced a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and discrimination under Kotick’s leadership. The Wall Street Journal also said that Kotick knew about the misconduct and did not tell the board everything. Kotick was accused of harassment, but Activision Blizzard said the report was “misleading.”
Lawmakers are concerned about data privacy and TikTok’s ties to China. US President Biden, whose administration has already banned the application on government devices, said he supports banning the application in the United States. However, former President Donald Trump, who once wanted to ban TikTok, has changed his mind, saying the ban would help TikTok’s competitors like Facebook and YouTube.
As the anti-TikTok bill gained support, the app asked US users to speak up for it and sent messages telling users to call their representatives. The bill, which passed a committee last week, is expected to be approved during a vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. If it passes, it will then go to the Senate, where the bill will be signed into law by the President of the United States. Former Activision boss reportedly wants to buy TikTok
