Mark Cuban to Fund TikTok Alternative on Bluesky

Mark Cuban Seeks to Fund a TikTok Alternative on Bluesky’s AT Protocol

Mark Cuban, a prominent entrepreneur and investor, has expressed his readiness to provide funding for a TikTok alternative. This potential new platform would be constructed utilizing the AT Protocol, as he revealed in a TikTok video shared on Wednesday.

Anticipating the TikTok Ban and User Migration

With the impending U.S. TikTok ban – scheduled to take effect on Sunday unless the Supreme Court intervenes – a noticeable exodus of users to other video-sharing platforms is underway. RedNote, a Chinese application, is among those seeing an influx of new users.

However, investors such as Cuban are recognizing the opportunity to foster a more decentralized and open social web. This vision includes an ecosystem of applications powered by the same foundational technology currently supporting Bluesky’s social network.

Understanding the AT Protocol

The AT Protocol represents a newer, open protocol specifically designed for decentralized social media applications. It aims to address perceived limitations within existing decentralized protocols like ActivityPub, which is utilized by platforms such as Mastodon.

Currently, Bluesky serves as the primary application built on the AT Protocol. Nevertheless, numerous other services are actively being developed using this technology.

Growing Demand for Open Social Applications

Demand for open social applications is demonstrably increasing. Bluesky itself has experienced a significant surge in new registrations following the recent U.S. presidential elections.

The network has expanded to over 27.6 million users, a substantial increase from the 10 million+ users recorded in September. Furthermore, news recently surfaced regarding an upcoming Bluesky client, Flashes, which will prioritize image-based content over text.

Cuban’s Vision for a TikTok Competitor

Cuban has stated his desire to see – and financially support – a platform capable of competing with TikTok, but built upon the AT Protocol.

In his video, he briefly explained how ATProto allows individuals to establish their own social networking servers and applications.

He then added, “I would be open to investing in supporting anybody – or somebody who creates a TikTok replacement built on the AT Protocol. So if you’ve got that ability, let me know in the comments. If you create an MVP – a minimum viable product – so I can see it, that’s all the better, because obviously, I think you’d have a whole lot of support.”

The Benefits of Building on the AT Protocol

“And more importantly, when you build on the AT Protocol, it’s extensible, so that means nobody can just buy it, nobody can just close it,” the investor emphasized. This refers to the inherent account portability features of developing for an open social web.

Users have the ability to transfer their accounts to different servers without losing their followers, content, or associated data.

Competition with X and Cuban’s Motivations

Cuban’s interest in ATProto extends beyond simply expanding the open social web. It also stems from a desire to increase competition with Elon Musk’s X.

Cuban has publicly engaged in disagreements with Musk on X and other platforms, voicing criticism regarding X’s content moderation policies, handling of misinformation, and other areas.

Cuban has requested that interested developers respond directly in the comments section of his TikTok post.