Welcome to The Hill's Technology newsletter {beacon} Technology Technology   The Big Story  TikTok's future hangs in balance at Supreme Court  TikTok’s future will hang in the balance Friday when the Supreme Court hears oral arguments over a federal law that could ban the platform nationwide in less than 10 days.  © Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images In its waning days, the Biden Justice Department will square off in the courtroom against lawyers for TikTok and several creators in a seismic battle that pits national security against free speech.    “The whole point of the First Amendment is that the government can’t shut down speech that it thinks is against its interests,” said Liberty Justice Center President Jacob Huebert, a member of the creators’ legal team.    Under the new law passed by bipartisan majorities in Congress, TikTok can no longer be offered on app stores beginning Jan. 19, unless TikTok divests from its Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, or President Biden agrees to a delay.    With neither of those solutions likely, the Supreme Court’s agreement to take up TikTok’s challenge has emerged as the platform’s best remaining hope for a last-minute shakeup. TikTok has more than 170 million users nationwide.    The case has been complicated by the backdrop of a changing administration in Washington.     The Biden administration has been defending the law, which would ban TikTok the day before the inauguration. Friday’s argument is expected to be the final for Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who will lead the administration’s defense of the law at the high court.     President-elect Trump, who has sympathized with the platform in its fight against a ban, is hoping the Supreme Court will issue a delay since he is set to take control of the White House and the Justice Department in less than two weeks.    Once in office, Trump claims he could negotiate a deal that negates the need for the justices to declare the law unconstitutional.    The justices are hearing the case at breakneck speed, even faster than when the justices took up Trump’s claims of presidential immunity last year on an expedited schedule.    In Trump’s case, arguments took place 57 days after the case was taken up; arguments in TikTok’s challenge are being heard just 23 days later.    It gives the Supreme Court an opportunity to issue a ruling before the ban is implemented on Jan. 19. If no ruling lands by then, the law will take effect.    Read more in a full report at TheHill.com on Friday morning.   Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we're Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.   Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.   Essential Reads  How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:   Musk emerges as Trump foreign policy wild card Elon Musk has increasingly waded into foreign politics from the perch of his social platform X — a development that experts say likely raises questions for U.S. allies about his role in foreign policy, and stir frustration within the incoming Trump administration. Musk, who has become a central player in President-elect Trump’s inner circle since backing his presidential bid last year, has thrown his weight behind far-right …  Full Story   Zuckerberg met with Trump before ending fact-checking program: GOP senator Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with President-elect Trump a day ahead of announcing the social media network will eliminate its fact-checking program to prioritize free speech. “Mark met with President Trump the day before he announced that they were going to change the way they do censorship, essentially,” Mullin told political commentator Benny Johnson during a segment of “The …  Full Story   Musk-Trump relationship not a ‘concern’: Hyundai CEO Hyundai CEO José Muñoz said he’s not concerned about the relationship between President-elect Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose company is one of Hyundai’s biggest competitors. Instead, Munoz said in an interview with Bloomberg that he thinks their close relationship could benefit the U.S. auto industry, especially as it seeks to take on China and its fast-growing electric vehicle (EV) market. “I don’t see that as …  Full Story   US warns of risk from most of world’s online pharmacies The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative warned there’s a risk of ineffective or dangerous drugs from online pharmacies that are being illegally run. In a report released Wednesday, the office singled out 19 countries that raised concerns of possible movement of counterfeit or pirated drugs. “Counterfeiting and piracy is a shared global concern, harming people not just in the United States but also other countries,” U.S. …  Full Story   The Refresh  News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:   McCourt's Project Liberty proposes TikTok bid  Billionaire Frank McCourt's Project Liberty submitted a proposal on Thursday to buy TikTok from ByteDance on the promise of prioritizing users' digital safety, Reuters reports.    Apple's AI news feature sparks misinfo concerns A new Apple feature that summarizes notifications using artificial intelligence (AI) is causing misinformation concerns, CNBC reports.   On Our Radar  Upcoming news themes and events we're watching: The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the lawsuit over TikTok's ban at 10 a.m. ET.   In Other News  Branch out with other reads on The Hill: Musk: Cutting $2T through DOGE ‘best-case outcome’ Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday that the best-case scenario would be to make $2 trillion in cuts to federal spending through the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) he is co-leading. “I think we’ll try for $2 trillion, I think that’s like the best case outcome,” Musk told Mark Penn, chairman and CEO of marketing firm Stagwell, in an interview streamed on his social platform X. “But I do think that you … Full Story   4 in 10 companies planning job cuts due to AI: Survey Companies across the globe, at least 4 in 10, are likely to cut jobs as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance, new research shows. A survey in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest “Future of Jobs Report,” found that because of the “increasing capability and prevalence” of AI, 41 percent of employers surveyed said they will shrink their workforce within the next five years if the technology is … Full Story   What Others are Reading  Two key stories on The Hill right now: 7 notable moments between VIPs at Carter’s funeral Former President Carter’s funeral service at Washington National Cathedral brought together all five living presidents and current and former officials … Read more Bush gives Obama a belly tap at Carter funeral Former President Bush gave former President Obama a belly tap at the funeral on Thursday for the late President Carter, a moment caught on camera and … Read more     You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!  Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Technology newsletter Subscribe