Sector Spotlight: President Trump says TikTok deal has China’s approval

Welcome to the latest edition of “Sector Spotlight,” where The Fly looks at a new industry every week and highlights its happenings.

SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS: In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said: “I just completed a very productive call with President Xi of China. We made progress on many very important issues including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal. I also agreed with President Xi that we would meet at the APEC Summit in South Korea, that I would go to China in the early part of next year, and that President Xi would, likewise, come to the United States at an appropriate time. The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval, and both look forward to meeting at APEC!” China said the U.S. spinoff of TikTok will use ByteDance’s Chinese algorithm and that the U.S.-agreed framework includes “licensing the algorithm and other IP rights,” The Financial Times reported. Wang Jingtao, deputy head of China’s powerful cyber security regulator, said ByteDance will “entrust the operation of TikTok’s U.S. user data and content security.” Meanwhile, Bloomberg noted that President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to extend the deadline for TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance to divest the platform’s U.S. operations until December 16, which will allow TikTok’s U.S. operations to be controlled by a group including Oracle (ORCL), Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz, with Oracle keeping the TikTok cloud contract. Trump told reporters he had “a deal on TikTok” with the Chinese, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the deal was similar to the commercial terms negotiated earlier in the year.

Meta (META) has discussed licensing articles from media companies, including Axel Springer, Fox Corp. (FOX), and News Corp. (NWS), for use in its AI tools, Alexandra Bruell and Jessica Toonkel of The Wall Street Journal wrote. Some of the discussions are early and may not lead to new deals, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.

Circus SE announced the first-ever deployment of its next-generation autonomous CA-1 robot, beginning with Meta in Germany as its first enterprise deployment. The deployment will begin with full integration at the Munich Meta offices and will be accompanied by a joint launch event.

U.S. Representative James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky and the Chair of the House Oversight Committee, said in a post on X “I’m calling on the CEOs of Discord, Steam, Twitch (AMZN), & Reddit (RDDT) to testify at an Oversight Committee hearing on October 8. The hearing will examine the radicalization of online forum users, including instances of open incitement to commit politically motivated acts. The politically motivated assassination of Charlie Kirk claimed the life of a husband, father, and American patriot. In the wake of this tragedy, and amid other acts of politically motivated violence, Congress has a duty to oversee the online platforms that radicals have used to advance political violence. To prevent future radicalization and violence, the CEOs of Discord, Steam, Twitch, and Reddit must appear and explain what actions they will take to ensure their platforms are not exploited for nefarious purpose.”

Reddit is in early talks with Alphabet’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Google about another generative AI content-sharing agreement, according to Bloomberg’s Riley Griffin, Davey Alba and Shirin Ghaffary. Reddit, which inked its first data-sharing deal with Google over a year and a half ago for a reported $60M, is in talks for “deeper integration with Google’s AI products,” according to executives familiar with the discussions. Reddit, Google and OpenAI declined to comment on discussions related to future potential agreements.

Chinese hardware maker Goertek is strengthening its grip on Meta’s AI glasses supply chain, including making “Hypernova,” through a series of dealmaking, Hannah Murphy and Eleanor Olcott of The Financial Times reported. The Chinese hardware supplier’s dealmaking includes taking control of Shanghai OmniLight, which makes micro-nano optical devices used in smart glasses, and helping to finance a takeover of optics supplier Plessey.

ANALYST COMMENTARY: JPMorgan reiterated an Overweight rating on Meta Platforms with an $875 price target following the Connect event. Connect showcased Meta’s progress toward shaping computing’s next form factors, the analyst told investors in a research note. The firm believes the company has earned the right to spend on future growth given its strong advertising performance. The company introduced the most advanced artificial intelligence glasses, the Meta Ray-Ban Display, which has a neural interface and mixed-use battery life of up to six hours, JPMorgan said. Meta’s remains the firm’s top internet pick.

Citizens JMP increased its price target on Reddit to $300 from $225 and maintained an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm came away from meetings with management believing that Reddit has multiple catalysts through 2026, including a feed redesign, integration of Answers in search, and ongoing monetization progress, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Citizens thinks top-line results can continue to outperform estimates.