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Lemon8, a photo-sharing app by Bytedance, and RedNote, a Shanghai-based content-sharing platform, have seen a surge in popularity in the U.S. as “TikTok refugees” migrate to alternative platforms ahead of a potential ban. 

Now a law that could see TikTok shut down in the U.S. threatens to ensnare these Chinese social media apps, and others gaining traction as TikTok-alternatives, legal experts say. 

As of Wednesday, RedNote — known as Xiaohongshu in Chinawas the top free app on the U.S. iOS store, with Lemon8 taking the second spot. 

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to rule on the constitutionality of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, or PAFACA, that would lead to the TikTok app being banned in the U.S. if its Beijing-based owner, ByteDance, doesn’t divest it by Jan. 19.

While the legislation explicitly names TikTok and ByteDance, experts say its scope is broad and could open the door for Washington to target additional Chinese apps. 

“Chinese social media apps, including Lemon8 and RedNote, could also end up being banned under this law,” Tobin Marcus, head of U.S. policy and politics at New York-based research firm Wolfe Research, told CNBC. 

If the TikTok ban is upheld, it will be unlikely that the law will allow potential replacements to originate from China without some form of divestiture, experts told CNBC.

PAFACA automatically applies to Lemon8 as it’s a subsidiary of ByteDance, while RedNote could fall under the law if its monthly average user base in the U.S. continues to grow, said Marcus. 

The legislation prohibits distributing, maintaining, or providing internet hosting services to any “foreign adversary controlled application.” 

These applications include those connected to ByteDance or TikTok or a social media company that is controlled by a “foreign adversary” and has been determined to present a significant threat to national security.

The wording of the legislation is “quite expansive” and would give incoming president Donald Trump room to decide which entities constitute a significant threat to national security, said Carl Tobias, Williams Chair in Law at the University of Richmond. 

Xiaomeng Lu, Director of Geo‑technology at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, told CNBC that the law will likely prevail, even if its implementation and enforcement are delayed. Regardless, she expects Chinese apps in the U.S. will continue to be the subject of increased regulatory action moving forward.

“The TikTok case has set a new precedent for Chinese apps to get targeted and potentially shut down,” Lu said.

She added that other Chinese apps that could be impacted by increased scrutiny this year include popular Chinese e-commerce platform Temu and Shein. U.S. officials have accused the apps of posing data risks, allegations similar to those levied against TikTok.

The fate of TikTok rests with Supreme Court after the platform and its parent company filed a suit against the U.S. government, saying that invoking PAFACA violated constitutional protections of free speech.

TikTok’s argument is that the law is unconstitutional as applied to them specifically, not that it is unconstitutional per se, said Cornell Law Professor Gautam Hans. “So, regardless of whether TikTok wins or loses, the law could still potentially be applied to other companies,” he said. 

The law’s defined purview is broad enough that it could be applied to a variety of Chinese apps deemed to be a national security threat, beyond traditional social media apps in the mold of TikTok, Hans said. 

Trump, meanwhile, has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hold off on implementing PAFACA so he can pursue a “political resolution” after taking office. Democratic lawmakers have also urged Congress and President Joe Biden to extend the Jan. 19 deadline

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Trump advisor Navarro rips Apple’s Tim Cook for not moving production out of China fast enough

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Trump advisor Navarro rips Apple's Tim Cook for not moving production out of China fast enough

Peter Navarro: 'Inconceivable' that Apple could not produce iPhones outside China

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro chastised Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday over the company’s response to pressure from the Trump administration to make more of its products outside of China.

“Going back to the first Trump term, Tim Cook has continually asked for more time in order to move his factories out of China,” Navarro said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” “I mean it’s the longest-running soap opera in Silicon Valley.”

CNBC has reached out to Apple for comment on Navarro’s criticism.

President Donald Trump has in recent months ramped up demands for Apple to move production of its iconic iPhone to the U.S. from overseas. Apple’s flagship phone is produced primarily in China, but the company has increasingly boosted production in India, partly to avoid the higher cost of Trump’s tariffs.

Trump in May warned Apple would have to pay a tariff of 25% or more for iPhones made outside the U.S. In separate remarks, Trump said he told Cook, “I don’t want you building in India.”

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Analysts and supply chain experts have argued it would be impossible for Apple to completely move iPhone production to the U.S. By some estimates, a U.S.-made iPhone could cost as much as $3,500.

Navarro said Cook isn’t shifting production out of China quickly enough.

“With all these new advanced manufacturing techniques and the way things are moving with AI and things like that, it’s inconceivable to me that Tim Cook could not produce his iPhones elsewhere around the world and in this country,” Navarro said.

Apple currently makes very few products in the U.S. During Trump’s first term, Apple extended its commitment to assemble the $3,000 Mac Pro in Texas.

In February, Apple said it would spend $500 billion within the U.S., including on assembling some AI servers.

WATCH: Apple’s $500 billion investment: For AI servers not manufacturing iPhones

Apple's $500 billion U.S. investment: For AI servers not manufacturing iPhones

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CoreWeave to acquire Core Scientific in $9 billion all-stock deal

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CoreWeave to acquire Core Scientific in  billion all-stock deal

CoreWeave founders Brian Venturo, at left in sweatshirt, and Mike Intrator slap five after ringing the opening bell at Nasdaq headquarters in New York on March 28, 2025.

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Artificial intelligence hyperscaler CoreWeave said Monday it will acquire Core Scientific, a leading data center infrastructure provider, in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $9 billion.

Coreweave stock fell about 4% on Monday while Core Scientific stock plummeted about 20%. Shares of both companies rallied at the end of June after the Wall Street Journal reported that talks were underway for an acquisition.

The deal strengthens CoreWeave’s position in the AI arms race by bringing critical infrastructure in-house.

CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator said the move will eliminate $10 billion in future lease obligations and significantly enhance operating efficiency.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, pending regulatory and shareholder approval.

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The deal expands CoreWeave’s access to power and real estate, giving it ownership of 1.3 gigawatts of gross capacity across Core Scientific’s U.S. data center footprint, with another gigawatt available for future growth.

Core Scientific has increasingly focused on high-performance compute workloads since emerging from bankruptcy and relisting on the Nasdaq in 2024.

Core Scientific shareholders will receive 0.1235 CoreWeave shares for each share they hold — implying a $20.40 per-share valuation and a 66% premium to Core Scientific’s closing stock price before deal talks were reported.

After closing, Core Scientific shareholders will own less than 10% of the combined company.

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Apple appeals 500 million euro EU fine over App Store policies

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Apple appeals 500 million euro EU fine over App Store policies

Two young men stand inside a shopping mall in front of a large illuminated Apple logo seen through a window in Chongqing, China, on June 4, 2025.

Cheng Xin | Getty Images

Apple on Monday appealed what it called an “unprecedented” 500 million euro ($586 million) fine issued by the European Union for violating the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.

“As our appeal will show, the EC [European Commission] is mandating how we run our store and forcing business terms which are confusing for developers and bad for users,” the company said in a statement. “We implemented this to avoid punitive daily fines and will share the facts with the Court.”

Apple recently made changes to its App Store‘s European policies that the company said would be in compliance with the DMA and would avoid the fines.

The Commission, which is the executive body of the EU, announced its fine in April, saying that Apple “breached its anti-steering obligation” under the DMA with restrictions on the App Store.

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“Due to a number of restrictions imposed by Apple, app developers cannot fully benefit from the advantages of alternative distribution channels outside the App Store,” the commission wrote. “Similarly, consumers cannot fully benefit from alternative and cheaper offers as Apple prevents app developers from directly informing consumers of such offers.”

Under the DMA, tech giants like Apple and Google are required to allow businesses to inform end-users of offers outside their platform — including those at different prices or with different conditions.

Companies like Epic Games and Spotify have complained about restrictions within the App Store that make it harder for them to communicate alternative payment methods to iOS users.

Apple typically takes a 15%-30% cut on in-app purchases.

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