Vinod Khosla urges the Senate to pass the bill

“Would you allow North Korea or Iran to own a broadcast channel that 67% of teenagers spend almost two hours a day on?” the two wrote.

Some critics have compared the ban to an enforcement law, given that it singles out one company. In an interview with CNBC, Helberg said the comparison doesn’t apply.

“We have a long tradition in American politics of sometimes targeting individual companies when national security is at stake,” Helberg said. The bill, which passed the House overwhelmingly in March, would require Bytedance to either find a buyer for TikTok or face a US ban

However, Bytedance is not standing by. The company is mobilizing its user base to oppose the House bill, urging its millions of users to call their representatives in Congress and voice their opposition. The app notifications sparked a flood of phone calls that flooded some congressional offices.

Helberg said this effort is a prime example of the risk that TikTok poses. “This was a live demonstration of exactly the kinds of concerns we’re trying to highlight to elected officials,” he told CNBC. “All these concerns that were previously theoretical were highlighted in full Technicolor for all to see.”

Khosla is the founder of Khosla Ventures and co-founded Sun Microsystems. Helberg is a senior advisor at Palantir, an artificial intelligence firm that does extensive government work, including with the US Department of Defense.

Both are deeply involved in the Hill and Valley Forum, a task force first convened in 2023 to combat Chinese government influence, and TikTok in the US Hill and Valley is scheduled to reconvene in May.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew also lobbied D.C. lawmakers against the ban, meeting with Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., in March.

While the letter is addressed to all senators, Helberg said he hopes in particular that Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., will take note. Schumer is the Senate Majority Leader and Cantwell is the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.

But TikTok appears to have received apparent support from an unexpected source: former President Donald Trump. A week after Trump met with top Republican donor and Bytedance investor Jeff Yass, the former president signaled his opposition to banning TikTok, saying it would give too much of an advantage to Meta, which owns Instagram.

Helberg said he doesn’t think Trump is completely opposed to Khosla and his efforts. “If you look at his statements, he has expressed very strong concerns about bias and censorship of conservative voices online,” Helberg told CNBC. Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in 2024.

However, Trump’s comment, combined with opposition from China’s foreign ministry, raised questions about whether the sale was even feasible. China has said it is completely opposed to the sale of TikTok, which would require an export license from the government. This juxtaposition, Khosla and Helberg write, “tells you what you need to know: TikTok is a ‘key political asset,’ not a commercial enterprise.”

Top investors, including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, are among those circling the app, which is likely to carry a price tag in the tens of billions of dollars.

Asked what the odds were between a sale and a ban, Helberg demurred.

“If the Chinese Communist Party acts in good faith and lives up to its claims, the sale will happen in an organized manner,” he said. “There are a lot of willing buyers in the United States.”

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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