Source: Reuters
He has allegedly already presented the idea to potential partners, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
The Wall Street Journal reports, that former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is interested in buying TikTok — given the new US bill that provides for sale of the social network to a local owner or its complete ban in the country.
Kotick allegedly discussed this idea at a conference with potential partners, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Zhang Yiming, the executive director of TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance.
If TikTok were to be sold, it would likely be worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Bobby Kotick has led Activision for over 30 years and resigned last year. The company has faced multiple lawsuits recently, including one it settled with the California Civil Rights Department over alleged pay discrimination in December. In 2021, Activision Blizzard employees staged a walkout and demanded Kotick resign, but that didn’t happen. He ultimately stayed on as head of Activision Blizzard until the completion of Microsoft’s acquisition in 2023.
After the information was made public, Activision Blizzard employees demanded Kotick’s resignation, but he remained in office until completion of the Microsoft acquisition in 2023.
«The Protecting Americans from Foreign-Controlled Programs Act», which Joe Biden plans to sign, stipulates that ByteDance must sell TikTok within 6 months, otherwise it will be banned from US app stores. Last week, the social network sent out push notifications with a request to call their representatives. After the vote in the House of Representatives, where it is expected to be approved, the bill will be passed to the Senate.
Lawmakers’ concerns are currently focused on TikTok’s ties to China and the country’s potential access to confidential data. At the same time, the social network’s cooperation with OpenAI is likely to involve training AI models on user data, which is also not very secure.
Correction April 9rd, 4:40PM (GMT+3): This article has been updated to clarify the nature of Activision’s settlement with the CRD, and to remove a reference to an unrelated allegation about former CEO Bobby Kotick. While the CRD lawsuit initially included allegations that Activision fostered sexual harassment, the CRD in January filed an amendment withdrawing these claims, and the publicly-filed settlement agreement stated: “No court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard; … or that Activision Blizzard’s Board of Directors, including its Chief Executive Officer, Robert Kotick, acted improperly with regard to the handling of any instances of workplace misconduct.