The TikTok ban's racist legacy

Newsletter for June 10, 2024

If you're coming to this newsletter anew after meeting me at last week's Baltimore Climate Tech and #BaltimoreTech meetups, welcome! It was a pleasure to meet everyone and learn about your work. Today, we look beyond the immediate Baltimore area into some developments around our nation's capital with local implications.

What do Asian Americans think about the US government's attempt to ban for force a sale of TikTok? Our reporter spoke with civic leaders, platform personalities, and two people who sued over the legislation to explore some of the xenophobic rhetoric underscoring the move. Also below: A DC-area startup is using spectral data to find pathogens and other harmful contaminants in our food, air and beyond. Scroll down for all of that and more.

— Sameer, Technical.ly editor for Baltimore and DC

As parts of the US government take aim at major tech companies through a mix of litigation and legislation, the attempted ban or forced sale of one particular company — TikTok, whose owner ByteDance is based in China — has several Asian American civic leaders and platform personalities seeing the past coming back in harmful ways.

"Racist rhetoric leads to attacks based on appearance,” said attorney Harry Budisidharta. “We've seen anti-Japanese sentiment that led to the killing of Vincent Chin, even though he wasn't Japanese. But his attacker didn't ask that."

Budisidharta joined several other Asian Americans, as well as some parties to a lawsuit challenging the ban, in sharing their perspectives on the ban's surrounding rhetoric, efficiency and historical ties in a new feature.

➡️ Learn more about the TikTok ban and critiques against it here.

Further south, Alexandria, Virginia-based HyperSpectral just raised a major series A to hire more employees and further develop its core tech. The company specializes in using artificial intelligence and spectral data, which includes everything from ultraviolet to infrared light range, to find pathogens and contaminants in food, the air and more.

The $8.5 million raise from a mix of domestic and international investors coincides with the company scoring a pilot with the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, among other entities. CEO Matt Theurer, the onetime cofounder of cloud service provider Virtustream, broke down what these new funds and opportunities mean in a recent interview with Technical.ly's DC reporter Kaela Roeder.

➡️ Learn more about HyperSpectral's plans in this new article.

• Pharmaceutical company Allergan will pay Baltimore $45 million in a settlement related to the city's lawsuit over the opioid epidemic's impact. Baltimore is set to receive more money than it would've had it opted into the Maryland's settlement last year. [Baltimore Banner]

• Columbia-based data and code development firm Clarity Innovations has merged with Herdon, VA's Chamelion Consulting Group. The new company, which retains Clarity's brand identity, will have about 500 employees. [Biz Journal]

• A memorial to the six people who died during the Key Bridge collapse was vandalized over the weekend. [Associated Press]

• Timonium-based tech and management consultancy Think Consulting announced a new partnership with Valtus Alliance, a global collection of executive interim management companies, in an effort to expand its international reach. [Think Consulting]

• EcoMap Technologies highlighted how AI, investment and other trends impact local networks in its first-ever Ecosystem Trend Report. [EcoMap]

• Under Armour steps into haute couture through a new collaboration with Spanish fashion house Balenciaga. [Baltimore Banner]

• Investment management giant T. Rowe Price will be featured in a patch on the Orioles' jerseys. [Biz Journal]