| If you're finding value in our Creator Economy newsletter, I encourage you to consider subscribing to The Information. It contains exclusive reporting on the most important stories in tech. Save up to $250 on your first year of access. Happy Thursday! I'm in Washington D.C. ahead of oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Friday morning, where TikTok will argue against a U.S. law that could ban the app in 10 days if it doesn't sever ties with its Chinese parent ByteDance. Despite this threat, TikTok is pushing forward as normal—so much so that this week at the major tech conference CES in Las Vegas, TikTok executives held a panel where they talked up the app's impact on culture and forecast trends for this year. About 150 people showed up to the event, filling up most of the couches and chairs in the venue, before they headed into a TikTok-sponsored happy hour, my colleague Wayne Ma reports. TikTok's 2025 trend report, which it also published on Wednesday, ignores the possibility of a ban, instead focusing on how the app is reshaping marketing and "the future of business growth." This business-as-usual messaging is in keeping with how TikTok staff have engaged with creators and advertisers for months—although as we reported last week, staff have recently acknowledged the possibility of a shutdown by telling big advertisers they could apply for refund if a ban does happen. Many creators, talent managers and advertisers are also in wait-and-see mode, with some expressing their skepticism that a ban will ultimately happen after four years of this potential threat. But the difference this time is that a law has been passed to implement the ban—and the deadline is fast approaching! Some are thinking through their contingency plans, though. Sheila Marmon, founder of Los-Angeles media company Mirror Digital, said her agency would likely shift all of its content to Instagram if TikTok were to disappear. "We have to migrate somewhere. There has got to be a Plan B," she said on the sidelines of CES. But Marmon added that the U.S. government has flip-flopped so much on its stance toward TikTok that she isn't considering the reality of a ban until it actually happens. Cole Triplett, a creative strategist at Hammer Creative, a Los Angeles-based ad agency specializing in video game clients, said a TikTok ban would put a dent in the agency's business. But similarly, the agency could shift work to other social media apps offering short-form video features, including Instagram and YouTube. On Friday, I'll be looking for any indications from the justices, from their body language to their line of questioning, about whether they're likely to rule in favor of TikTok or the government. There are a few ways the situation could play out. TikTok is hoping the Supreme Court will agree with its argument and grant a temporary injunction that prevents the ban from going into effect. If the court does nothing, Apple and Google must remove the apps from their app stores (current users will still be able to keep using them, but TikTok won't be able to issue new updates.) President-elect Donald Trump, whose lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to delay its decision until after his inauguration on January 20, may also try to find a way to avoid a shutdown after he's in office, but it's unclear how he could do so—short of convincing Congress to overturn the law, which seems unlikely. For now, TikTok has at least one interested buyer. On Thursday, billionaire Frank McCourt's tech organization Project Liberty said it submitted a formal proposal to acquire TikTok's U.S. assets. The price is unclear, but the deal wouldn't require TikTok to sell with its powerful algorithm, something that's not likely to be approved by Beijing under China's export laws. TikTok did not provide a comment. But as my colleagues reported on Thursday in this in-depth story, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, who holds super voting shares, will make the final call about a sale—subject to the Chinese government's consent. And his position has likely contributed to ByteDance's position till now, that it would rather let the app shut down than sell it. Here's what else is going on… See The Information's Creator Economy Database for an exclusive list of private companies and their investors. Captions, a paid AI video-editing software for creators, announced it will introduce a free plan on Jan. 19—the deadline of the potential TikTok ban. "The stakes are high for CapCut and TikTok this Friday with the Supreme Court hearing," Captions CEO Gaurav Misra wrote on LinkedIn on Thursday. TikTok parent ByteDance owns video-editing software CapCut, which could also be banned under the U.S. law. Google announced Daily Listen, an AI feature to create a podcast episode based on users' search interests. Bluesky, a decentralized social network competing with Elon Musk's X, is in discussions to raise money at a $700 million valuation in a round led by Bain Capital Ventures, according to Business Insider. Stan, a startup offering virtual stores for creators to sell digital products like online courses, launched a contest where the company will cover one creator's expenses this year so they can go full-time with their business. Creators who want to participate have to post a video with their personal story and the steps they're taking to "build your dream life." Paris Hilton, Adam Brody and Billy Crystal are among the celebrities who have lost their homes in devastating wildfires sweeping Los Angeles. Creators, such as podcaster Harry Jowsey, have also evacuated and are sharing resources on social media to help those impacted. David Dobrik is back on YouTube after a two-year hiatus, sharing a vlog this week that includes unveiling his personal fitness transformation. GQ published an essay from an anonymous Substack writer who goes by the alias "coldhealing" online as part of a series of stories from men sharing their counterintuitive wellness resolutions for the New Year. Edelman released a list of 50 creators specializing in AI who they've deemed as safe for brands to work with. Thank you for reading the Creator Economy Newsletter! I'd love your feedback, ideas and tips: kaya@theinformation.com. If you think someone else might enjoy this newsletter, please pass it forward or they can sign up here: https://www.theinformation.com/newsletters/creator-economy | 
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