Jacob Helberg

Last updated
Jacob Helberg
Jacob Helberg Headshot.jpg
Education George Washington University (BA)
New York University (MS)
Spouse Keith Rabois

Jacob Helberg is an American author and technology advisor. [1] [2] Helberg currently serves as a commissioner for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and senior advisor to Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies. [3] [4] [5] Helberg has commented extensively on US-China relations, and the national security implications of Chinese-developed web apps like TikTok. [6] [7] [8]

Contents

Personal life

Helberg is openly gay. [9] He married American investor Keith Rabois in a 2018 ceremony officiated by Sam Altman. [10]

Political involvement

Helberg became a leading advocate for the 2024 passage of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which forced a sale or ban of TikTok. [11] [12] [13] [14] Helberg is the founder of the Hill and Valley Forum, a working group of American venture capitalists and lawmakers concerned about China's impact on the American technology industry. [4] [2]

Helberg is one of the top donors to Donald Trump's 2024 reelection campaign, donating $2 million in 2024. [15] [16] [17] Prior to the October 7th Hamas Assault, Helberg primarily donated to Democratic candidates, including the Pete Buttigieg 2020 presidential campaign. [18] [19]

Publications

In 2021, Simon & Schuster published a book by Helberg, The Wires of War: Technology and the Global Struggle for Power. [20] According to The Information, the book argues that "foreign adversaries are using technology to wage war against the U.S." [21]

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ByteDance Ltd. is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Haidian, Beijing and incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TikTok</span> Video-focused social media platform

TikTok, whose mainland Chinese counterpart is Douyin, is a short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from three seconds to 60 minutes. It can be accessed with a smart phone app.

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TikTok v. Trump was a lawsuit before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia filed in September 2020 by TikTok as a challenge to President Donald Trump's executive order of August 6, 2020. The order prohibited the usage of TikTok in five stages, the first being the prohibition of downloading the application. On September 27, 2020, a preliminary injunction was issued by Judge Carl J. Nichols blocking enforcement of that executive order. The lawsuit, by then captioned TikTok v. Biden, was dismissed in July 2021, following the Biden Administration's rescission of the executive order.

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Many countries have imposed past or ongoing restrictions on the video sharing social network TikTok. Bans from government devices usually stem from national security concerns over potential access of data by the Chinese government. Other bans have cited children's well-being and offensive content such as pornography.

There are reports of TikTok censoring political content related to China and other countries as well as content from minority creators. TikTok says that its initial content moderation policies, many of which are no longer applicable, were aimed at reducing divisiveness and were not politically motivated.

In 2020, the United States government announced that it was considering banning the Chinese social media platform TikTok upon a request from then-president Donald Trump, who viewed the app as a national security threat. The result was that TikTok owner ByteDance—which initially planned on selling a small portion of TikTok to an American company—agreed to divest TikTok to prevent a ban in the United States and in other countries where restrictions are also being considered due to privacy concerns, which themselves are mostly related to its ownership by a firm based in China.

TikTok has sparked concerns over potential user data collection and influence operations by the Chinese government, leading to restrictions and bans in the United States.

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The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) is an act of Congress that was signed into law on April 24, 2024, as part of Public Law 118-50. It would ban social networking services within 270 to 360 days if they are determined by the president of the United States and relevant provisions to be a "foreign adversary controlled application"; the definition covers websites and application software, including mobile apps. The act explicitly applies to ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries—including TikTok—without the need for additional determination. It ceases to be applicable if the foreign adversary controlled application is divested and no longer considered to be controlled by a foreign adversary of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hill and Valley Forum</span>

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References

  1. Kang, Cecilia (2024-03-27). "A.I. Leaders Press Advantage With Congress as China Tensions Rise". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  2. 1 2 Dwoskin, Elizabeth; Harwell, Drew; Zakrzewski, Cat (2024-05-02). "The tech billionaires who helped ban TikTok want to write AI rules for Trump". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  3. "Jacob Helberg | U.S.- CHINA | ECONOMIC and SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION". www.uscc.gov. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  4. 1 2 Goswami, Rohan (2024-04-11). "Vinod Khosla and Palantir's Jacob Helberg call on Senate to ban TikTok: It's 'a weapon of war'". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  5. Rosenbush, Belle Lin and Steven. "Congressional U.S.-China Commissioner Warns of Global Tech Supply Chain Risk". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  6. Biddle, Sam (2024-03-21). "Tech Official Pushing TikTok Ban Could Reap Windfall From U.S.–China Cold War". The Intercept. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  7. Kang, Cecilia; Maheshwari, Sapna (2023-11-08). "Lawmakers Renew Calls to Ban TikTok After Accusations of Anti-Israel Content". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  8. Wells, Georgia. "WSJ News Exclusive | Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill Build an Anti-China Alliance". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  9. Zinko, By Carolyne. "Venture capitalist, 27, expands reach of Rainbow Railroad to S.F." San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  10. Schleifer, Theodore (2019-05-07). "How Pete Buttigieg became the new toast of Silicon Valley's wealthiest donors". Vox. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  11. Huang, Stu Woo. "WSJ News Exclusive | How TikTok Was Blindsided by U.S. Bill That Could Ban It". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  12. Maheshwari, Sapna; McCabe, David; Kang, Cecilia (2024-04-24). "'Thunder Run': Behind Lawmakers' Secretive Push to Pass the TikTok Bill". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  13. Perez, Andrew; Madarang, Charisma; Perez, Andrew (2024-03-22). "Lawmaker Who Led TikTok Ban Bill Joins Private Surveillance Firm: Report". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  14. Areddy, James T. "China Top Critic's Exit From Congress Threatens Anti-Beijing Momentum". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  15. "Has Silicon Valley gone Maga?". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  16. Svetkey, Benjamin (2024-08-07). ""F*** These Trump-Loving Techies": Hollywood Takes on Silicon Valley in an Epic Presidential Brawl". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  17. "Silicon Valley elite warms to Donald Trump". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  18. Deutch, Gabby (2024-05-17). "Top Silicon Valley donor cites anti-Israel left in his shift from Biden to Trump in 2024". Jewish Insider. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  19. Schleifer, Theodore (2019-05-07). "How Pete Buttigieg became the new toast of Silicon Valley's wealthiest donors". Vox. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  20. Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany (12 October 2021). "Book: The hidden U.S.-China technology war". Axios. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  21. MacColl, Margaux (21 June 2024). "Trump's Young Man in Silicon Valley". The Information. Retrieved 14 August 2024.