Sam Altman and OpenAI Considered in Bobby Kotick's TikTok Acquisition Plan

Former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is eyeing TikTok for his next venture, involving discussions with ByteDance's Zhang Yiming and OpenAI's Sam Altman, amid a pivotal US legislative push that could mandate the app's sale to a US-based entity.

Bobby Kotick Eyes TikTok Venture Amid Legislative Pressure on ByteDance

According to The Wall Street Journal, Kotick, who left Activision after its acquisition by Microsoft last year, has expressed an interest in buying TikTok to both Zhang Yiming, the cofounder of its parent company ByteDance, and OpenAI's Sam Altman.

According to the Journal, Kotick proposed the idea to Altman at a dinner during the Sun Valley conference last week and is looking for partners on a potential deal. The Journal reports that OpenAI could theoretically use TikTok to train its AI models.

Kotick is reportedly making the pitch as legislation is gaining traction in Congress that, if passed, would force TikTok to sell to a US-based owner or close down.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved the proposed legislation last week. The House is scheduled to vote on Wednesday, and if approved, it will proceed to the Senate. President Joe Biden has indicated that he will sign the bill.

The Journal estimates TikTok's potential value to be hundreds of billions of dollars, but Kotick's discussions may be irrelevant. A TikTok spokesperson told the Journal that the proposed bill is an effective ban because selling to a US entity would be impractical and reduce the company's global appeal.

Kotick's TikTok Ambitions Face Regulatory Hurdles and Legacy Controversies

Lawmakers want to ban China-owned TikTok out of fear that it will be forced to hand over user data to the Chinese government, as per Business Insider.

Some controversy marked Kotick's time at Activision. A Wall Street Journal investigation in 2021 discovered that he was aware of claims of sexual harassment and rape at the company for years and, in one case, intervened to keep a studio head accused of harassment.

A spokesperson at the time stated that the investigation was a misleading view of Activision Blizzard and the former CEO.

Photo: Jordan Matter/Flickr