TikTok CEO Shou Chew is set to attend Donald Trump's presidential inauguration on Monday, a source familiar with the plans has confirmed.
His presence comes at a time when TikTok's future in the United States is in doubt.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on whether to uphold a law requiring ByteDance, TikTok's parent company in China, to sell the social media platform's U.S. operations or face a ban on app stores.
In Supreme Court oral arguments last week, TikTok's lawyers told the justices that the site would remain dark on Sunday unless the law was suspended or repealed.
The New York Times first reported on Chiu's plans to attend the swearing-in ceremony. According to the Times, Chiu will join other tech executives on the platform, including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
In his first term, Trump sought to force the sale of TikTok's US operations through an executive order. But Trump's efforts were sidelined in the courts.
Last year, Congress passed the Sell or Block Act with an overwhelming bipartisan majority, with lawmakers raising alarms about national security and the Chinese government's potential access to Americans' private information. But Trump expressed his opposition, noting that the program had proven useful in his re-election bid. He also urged the Supreme Court to delay the law to give him time to try to appoint a buyer.
Chiu was present in Washington, where he testified several times before congressional committees. While Congress was considering measures to restrict TikTok last year, Chiu attended the Gridiron Dinner, an annual press gathering at which the president spoke. After that, he got some face-to-face time with the president. But Biden signed the bill the following month.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a supporter of the bill, said on the floor today that Democrats sought to extend the TikTok pluscinemaz.com”to give everyone more time to come to a workable solution.”
“But Senate Republicans blocked the bill, which is amazing because time is running out,” Schumer said.
“It is clear that more time is needed to find an American buyer and not disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans, many influential people who have built a good network of followers,” Schumer said.
