Mark Cuban has been one of Bluesky's most vocal supporters in recent months. And now that the Supreme Court has left it in force On TikTokthe billionaire entrepreneur is looking for something new.
“I appreciate everyone reaching out to me to try and come up with a TikTok alternative in case it shuts down.” Cuban posted on TikTok this week. “Here's what I'm open to considering. There's an application called Bluesky and it's built on a thing called the AT Protocol where you create your own servers, you create your own applications, and it all connects together with 26 or 27 million Bluesky. users.”
Bluesky is built upon AT protocolopen, decentralized network for building applications. Alternative X, which began as an independent research project within the then-Twitter in 2019, became its own company in 2022. The co-founder of Twitter Jack Dorsey was once on board.
Cuban said that if someone could build a TikTok alternative on the AT Protocol, they would have an immediate investor — themselves.
“I would be open to investing in and supporting anyone who creates a TikTok replacement built on the AT Protocol,” Cuban continued. “So if you have that skill, let me know in the comments.”
@mcuban Let me know in the comments! https://docs.bsky.app/docs/advanced-guides/atproto. #savetiktok #tiktok## call @Austin ♬ original sound – Mark Cuban
Cuban asked interested candidates to “create an MVP,” if possible, “a minimum viable product” so he would have something to look at before investing.
“I think you would have a lot of support,” he added. “And, when you build on top of the AT Protocol, it's extensible, so that means nobody can buy it, nobody can shut it down.”
TikTokers flooded the comments ready to take on the task.
“NASA software engineer here,” the user wrote. “If anyone wants to collaborate on this project, let me know!”
“I'm a full developer, willing to work with other developers to make this happen!”
According to Bloomberg Billionaires IndexMark Cuban is only worth $8 billion.