After more than five years of machinations, secret meetings, legislative actions, and confusing messaging, it appears a deal is coming to keep TikTok alive in the US. On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order that didn’t quite make a deal, but at least gave everyone space to make deal. It’s a concept of a plan, really.
On this episode of The Vergecast — which we recorded a few hours before Trump signed that order, which luckily didn’t change many details — we dig into everything we know about the TikTok deal. Before we do, though, David and Jake talk about some gadget news! There’s the latest in Google’s seemingly never-ending attempt to bring ChromeOS and Android together; there’s the increasing rumors about a touchscreen Mac; and there’s some new info on what Jony Ive and OpenAI are building together.
After that, it’s TikTok time. The Verge’s Liz Lopatto joins the show to talk about what we know about the deal, who the key players are (one new thing since we recorded: it appears the Abu Dhabi-based MGX will be another large investor), what it means that Larry Ellison in particular will be so powerful in the new TikTok, and more. We also wonder whether it’s even possible for TikTok to feel like the same platform and community after all these changes.
If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, first on the week’s gadget news:
And in the lightning round: