• Small businesses are struggling to stay afloat in the wake of the deadly Los Angeles fires.
• Many structures have been destroyed, but others left standing are damaged, with no foot traffic driving business.
• For some industries with slim margins, just days without business has forced permanent closures.

As deadly fires continue ripping through Los Angeles, leveling residential and commercial districts alike, even small business owners whose storefronts have been left standing aren't out of the woods.

Though more than 12,300 structures have been destroyed by the fires, commercial buildings that haven't been totaled are still struggling with costly damages to repair and with no foot traffic driving business.

For some industries with slim margins — like bars and restaurants — going just days without business has begun to force permanent closures.

AccuWeather estimates the damages and economic loss from the wildfires totals between $250 billion and $275 billion, making it one of the costliest wildfire disasters in modern US history.

"We have come to the heartbreaking decision that at this time, operating The Ruby Fruit is no longer possible due to financial impact from the current natural disaster," Emily Bielagus and Mara Herbkersman, owners of The Ruby Fruit, a lesbian wine bar in the Silver Lake neighborhood, posted Sunday on the bar's Instagram page.

"Sadly, along with all the feelings of grief and shock that we have experienced over the last few days, also came this undeniable reality: that running our small business is no longer sustainable. The hospitality industry functions on a day-by-day basis and right now, as they say — the math just isn't mathing," they wrote.

The announcement was met with an outcry from fans and devoted patrons of the bar — one of the city's only bars catering specifically to lesbians and "those who fall under the sapphic umbrella," according to the bar's website.

Some customers, in the comments of the bar's closure announcement, begged Bielagus and Herbkersman to create a community fundraiser to save the business. The Ruby Fruit's GoFundMe campaign, raising money to provide wages for the bar's staff — has raised about half its $15,000 goal in three days.

Bielagus and Herbkersman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Financial aid is available for small businesses trying to recover from the aftermath of the wildfires. The Small Business Administration's disaster loan program offers up to $2 million in loans with low interest rates for eligible businesses suffering economic losses and physical damage due to disaster. Interest on these loans does not begin to accrue for a year.

On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced extended tax filing deadlines and relief from interest and penalties for businesses impacted by the fires. However, tax breaks and interest-accruing loans are nothing compared to regular business, and the costs accrued from being closed stack up quickly.

"Thankfully we are safe and, as of now, able to operate," Betsy Martinez, owner of Fan Girl Cafe in West Hollywood, told BI. "However, business has definitely been impacted by the situation and we are navigating it the best we can."

Martinez, who runs Fan Girl Cafe with her wife, said the pair lost roughly $5,000 in just two and a half days of closures, in addition to the slow business in the days since. As a new restaurant in its first year of operations, margins were already tight. They're now considering debt consolidation and taking out a new loan and have contacted their existing lenders asking for extensions on their bills.

Some business owners are turning to the local community for financial support, but such funds are inconsistent — and largely targeted toward businesses that have been destroyed. Restaurants, including Fox's Restaurant, The Little Red Hen Coffee Shop, and The Reel Inn, have all burned down and have started GoFundMe campaigns to raise money to rebuild.

Martinez said she and her wife aren't comfortable starting a GoFundMe, given how tight funds are for everyone else — and that other businesses are dealing with more severe losses.

"It's just a heavy time right now for everyone," she said. "Right now, we're just looking at who we can help, even those of us who need help."

For now, many small business owners in the Los Angeles area are white-knuckling it through another costly disaster just a few short years after the COVID-19 pandemic saw more than 7,500 small businesses shutter across the county, the California Business Journal reported.

"We closed last week and are closing this week. We hope to reopen next week," the owners of Honey's at Star Love, a queer bar in Little Armenia, told BI in an email. "We're taking it all day by day."

At least two wildfires ignited in Southern California during critical fire weather and triggered fresh evacuations on Tuesday, one week after deadly blazes first erupted across Los Angeles County.

The big picture: The fires have killed at least 25 people and the "Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag Warning" that the National Weather Service's L.A. office issue remains in effect until Wednesday afternoon.

Threat level: "Southern California continues to see ingredients for high fire danger: strong wind gusts in the 45-70 mph range and relative humidities in the 8-15 % range," per an NWS forecast discussion.

• Santa Ana winds were weaker than expected Tuesday. But the National Weather Service's L.A. office said on X: "We are not out of the woods yet. Please stay on guard for a fast-moving fire."
• It added: "The winds underperformed today, but one more enhancement could happen tonight-tomorrow."

The high fire risk extends into the San Diego County, where peak wind gusts had also exceeded well over 50-60 mph in several places, per a post from the local NWS office Tuesday. Sill Hill recorded a gust of 74 mph — hurricane intensity.

• The winds are expected to subside after that, but the fire threat remains due to extremely dry conditions as firefighters continue to tackle California's biggest blazes — the Palisades and Eaton fires, which are already among the state's most destructive on record.
• Evacuation orders remain in effect for both of those fires, which ignited as Santa Ana winds arrived last Tuesday.

Situation report: The Palisades Fire has killed at least eight people and destroyed thousands of structures over an estimated 23,713 acres as of Tuesday evening. It was at 17% containment, per Cal Fire.

• The Eaton Fire has killed at least 17 people and destroyed thousands of structures over an estimated 14,117 acres over the same period. That fire was 35% contained.

Meanwhile, authorities issued evacuation orders in response to the Scout Fire that's burned at 0% containment across an estimated two acres in Riverside County since igniting during Santa Ana winds at lunchtime Tuesday.

• Angeles National Forest announced on X that another Riverside County wildfire that ignited in Hemet on Tuesday, the Stone Fire, had been "knocked down at 1/2 acre."

What we're watching: "Although winds have overall trended lighter than initially expected, NE to E winds may create large breaking waves to Avalon and Two Harbors Late tonight into Wednesday late morning," per an NWS LA forecast discussion.

• This could potentially create "hazardous conditions and possible minor coastal flooding."

More from Axios:

• LA's wildfires sparked by rare collision of climate factors
• The psychological toll of California's catastrophic fires
• Weather Service struggles to convey fire warnings to public

Editor's note: This a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Former first lady Michelle Obama won't attend President-elect Trump's inauguration next week, her office announced on Tuesday.

Why it matters: All other living first ladies and presidents have confirmed they will follow the tradition of attending the presidential swearing-in ceremony, including her husband, former President Obama.

• Representatives for former President Clinton and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump's 2016 presidential rival, have confirmed their attendance at Monday's ceremony — as have former President George W. Bush and ex-first lady Laura Bush.
• Michelle Obama was also notably absent from former President Carter's funeral.

Driving the news: "Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies," per a media statement from the Obamas' office.

• "Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration," added the statement, without elaborating further.
• Representatives for the Obamas did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment Tuesday evening.

Go deeper: Village People, Kid Rock to play at Trump inaugural rally

OpenAI is rolling out a beta feature called Tasks to ChatGPT that lets users schedule future actions and reminders.

Why it matters: Tasks is a step toward making ChatGPT a more helpful AI companion, reducing reliance on other apps such as Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa for reminders.

• This comes amid reported plans to release an autonomous computer-controlling agent called "Operator."

Zoom in: Tasks, which is available to some ChatGPT Plus, Team and Pro users starting today, lets subscribers schedule actions ahead of time.

• OpenAI hasn't specified whether Tasks will eventually come to free users.
• If a free user asks ChatGPT to set a reminder, it suggests they use Siri, Google and Alexa.

How it works: Select the "GPT-4o with scheduled tasks" model from the menu and then send a message about what you'd like it to do and when. This will create the task.

• Some examples of tasks could be "give me a daily weather report for Queens, NY every morning at 7am" or "remind me three months from now that I have a dentist appointment at 4pm."
• ChatGPT will send push notifications on the web, desktop (macOS) and mobile. It also sends an email notification of the task.
• A user can have up to 25 active reminders at a time.
• Users can manage and name tasks by selecting the Tasks option in the profile menu on web. ChatGPT may also suggest tasks based on a user's chats, and users can choose to accept them or not.

Editor's note: This story was updated with additional features about email notifications and active reminders.

• Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea's impeached president, was arrested on Wednesday.
• This was the South Korean authorities' second attempt to arrest Yoon.
• Yoon was impeached on December 14 after he attempted to impose martial law, triggering protests.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested by investigators early on Wednesday morning, local time.

Yoon's arrest comes after weeks of attempts by South Korean anti-corruption investigators to bring him in for questioning. This makes him the first sitting South Korean president to be detained.

Yoon has repeatedly defied attempts to arrest him. During a particularly tense standoff on January 3, investigators had to stand down after six hours when Yoon's security team barred them from taking the president.

More than 3,000 police officers and anti-corruption investigators were involved in Yoon's arrest on Wednesday morning, per Reuters.

South Korea's Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials said they had executed an arrest warrant for Yoon at 10.33 am local time, per a statement obtained by Yonhap News.

Yoon was impeached on December 14. South Korean lawmakers voted to remove him from duties after a stunning declaration of martial law, which triggered large-scale protests and calls for his resignation.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

• Two future Ford-class aircraft carriers will be named for Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
• It's the US Navy convention to name nuclear-powered flattops after presidents, with some exceptions.
• USS Doris Miller and Enterprise are the only two Ford-class vessels not named after presidents.

President Joe Biden announced Monday that two future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers will be named after former US presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

"Each knows firsthand the weight of the responsibilities that come with being Commander-in-Chief," Biden said in the White House announcement. "And both know well our duty to support the families and loved ones who wait and worry for the safe return of their servicemember."

US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said the future Ford-class carriers "will serve as lasting tributes to each leader's legacy in service of the United States."

The newly named flattops follow the sea service's tradition of naming the nuclear-powered carriers after US presidents. The trend has many exceptions, including first-in-class USS Nimitz, USS Carl Vinson, USS John C. Stennis, and future Ford-class ships USS Doris Miller and USS Enterprise.

Here are the names of the first six supercarriers in the Ford class, poised to become the backbone of America's naval power for the rest of the 21st Century.

USS Gerald R. Ford

The first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford is named after the 38th US president who office after then-President Richard Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate Scandal.

Ford granted Nixon a controversial pardon saying it was in the country's best interest to put an end to the "American tragedy in which we all — all have played a part," he said at the time.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest and most advanced aircraft carrier, completed its first full deployment last January, which the Pentagon extended in response to the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.

The Ford and the other warships in its strike group served in part as a deterrence message for its 239-day deployment to the Mediterranean in 2023.

USS John F. Kennedy

The second-in-class USS John F. Kennedy was named after the 35th US president, sharing its namesake with the last conventional aircraft carrier built for the Navy before the introduction of the nuclear-powered Nimitz class.

The future carrier was initially set to deliver in June 2024 but was delayed a year to July 2025 so the Navy could perform more work to prepare it for deployment in the Indo-Pacific.

The Navy said the Kennedy would be equipped with "new technology and warfighting capabilities," making the future aircraft carrier the "most agile and lethal combat platform globally."

USS Enterprise

The future USS Enterprise is one of two Ford-class carriers that wasn't named after a US president. It carries on a storied name whose heritage includes the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a decorated World War II carrier, and a brig from the Barbary War over 200 years ago.

Still under construction at Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News — the US's only aircraft carrier shipyard — the Enterprise was initially scheduled to deliver by March 2028, but the Navy's shipbuilding review found that it will now deliver by May 2030 at the latest.

In November, the Enterprise was moved for the first time at the shipyard to accommodate the construction of USS Doris Miller on the same dry dock.

USS Doris Miller

The other Ford-class carrier without a US president's name is the future USS Doris Miller.

The future supercarrier, named after US Navy sailor Doris "Dorie" Miller, is expected to be delivered a year and a half later than scheduled in early 2032.

Miller was a World War II hero of the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The mess attendant fired at Japanese aircraft with a .50 caliber machine gun on the battleship USS West Virginia and was the first Black person to be awarded the Navy Cross, the service's second-highest award for valor.

"Naming CVN 81 for Dorie Miller casts long overdue recognition to a true American hero and icon," then-Master Chief Petty Officer Russell Smith said during the ship's naming ceremony. "It also honors the contributions of African Americans and enlisted sailors for the first time in the history of American aircraft carriers."

One controversy has been that the Nimitz-class carrier John C. Stennis honors a key lawmaker behind the funding of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, who was also a longtime segregationist and opponent of the US Navy's racial integration.

USS William J. Clinton

Bill Clinton served as the 42nd president of the US, becoming the second president in US history to be impeached after Andrew Johnson in 1868. He faced charges of lying under oath and obstruction of justice in the wake of his infamous affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In his time as commander-in-chief, Clinton ordered cruise missile strikes against Iraq in retaliation for the assassination attempt on former President George H.W. Bush. He also played a key role in promoting peace in the Middle East and Northern Ireland through the Oslo Accords and the Good Friday Agreement.

The name of the future CVN 82 was announced in a private ceremony shortly after the new year, during which former President Clinton's daughter, Chelsea Clinton, was announced as the carrier's sponsor.

"It's never far from my mind that the precious freedoms Americans enjoy are safeguarded by our armed forces, anchored by a strong, modern, and agile Navy," Clinton said in a statement. "I'm honored that future servicemembers carrying on that proud tradition will serve on a carrier bearing my name."

USS George W. Bush

The sixth Ford-class carrier will bear the name of former President George W. Bush, whose presidency was defined by the 9/11 attacks and the launching of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

He implemented domestic counterterrorism measures and built a worldwide coalition to dismantle terrorist groups globally.

"I am honored that my name will be associated with the United States Navy and a symbol of our Nation's might," Bush said in a statement. "I have a special admiration for the men and women of our Navy — including my dad — and ask God to watch over this ship and those who sail aboard her."

The 10th and final Nimitz-class carrier was named after Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, who served as the 41st president of the US. The elder Bush was honored for his service as one of the youngest naval aviators serving in World War II, receiving military decorations like the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals, and the Presidential Unit Citation.

CVN 82 and CVN 83 will be the fifth and sixth carriers to join the Navy's fleet in the coming decade, but they are not yet under construction, nor have contracts been issued to HII's Newport News.

In a briefing last week, Christopher Kastner, CEO and president of HII, urged the US Navy to follow its shipbuilding timeline to procure USS William J. Clinton by 2028 as planned to avoid supply chain and workforce issues.

• TechCrunch has cut staff amid "evolving needs," the company told Business Insider.
• The Washington Post, HuffPost, and Vox Media have all conducted layoffs in 2025.
• Publishers face headwinds as many advertisers favor Big Tech.

TechCrunch is the latest digital publisher to cut staff.

A spokesperson for the outlet, which focuses on tech and startup coverage, confirmed the reductions to Business Insider and said fewer than 10 employees were impacted.

"We're excited about the future of TechCrunch," the spokesperson said in a statement, adding the company was "making changes to some roles that no longer fit our evolving needs."

They said the company would continue to grow and hire.

"This adjustment reflects our commitment to aligning our team structure with our business goals and not a cost-cutting effort," they added.

No other Yahoo properties were impacted, the spokesperson said.

Many media organizations continue to face headwinds, contending with falling traffic and advertisers increasingly turning to Big Tech.

Some have cut staff already this year.

Last week, Vox Media laid off staff for the second time in roughly a month.

BuzzFeed-owned HuffPost slashed roughly 22% of its newsroom last week, or 30 jobs, The Wrap and The New York Post reported. HuffPost's editor-in-chief, Danielle Belton, resigned amid the cuts.

The Washington Post is also eliminating less than 100 employees in an effort to cut costs, Reuters reported last week. A spokesperson for the Jeff Bezos-owned paper told the outlet cuts would occur across multiple divisions, but wouldn't impact the newsroom.

• Microsoft is a software company known for products like Windows, Microsoft 365, and Xbox.
• Microsoft is one of the largest software companies in the world by market cap.
• Microsoft was co-founded by Bill Gates, and the company is now led by CEO Satya Nadella.

Microsoft is one of the world's largest software companies, with annual revenues nearing $250 billion in recent years. Among its many products and platforms are the programs Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, used by private citizens and corporations all over the world, and the Windows operating system, the most widely-used computer OS by a vast margin.

The company was founded in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, with the latter leaving Microsoft in 1983 following a diagnosis of Hodgkin disease. Gates would stay on as CEO of the company until 2000, when he voluntarily stepped down, largely to focus on his charitable work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Gates was replaced by Steve Ballmer as the new Microsoft CEO, serving until he was in turn replaced by Satya Nadella in 2014. Under Nadella's guidance, the company has grown ever more profitable, though there have also been many massive layoffs across Microsoft.

Here's a look in greater detail at Microsoft's history, its many products and services, its financial successes and stumbles, and the foundation its profits helped create.

Microsoft's history

William Henry Gates III, better known as Bill Gates, had a preternatural talent with software, writing his first programs while a young teenager growing up in Seattle, Washington. By the time he graduated high school and went off to Harvard, Gates had already formed a business partnership with his friend and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

This was a data analysis venture called Traf-O-Data that employed computers in parsing through information collected by roadway traffic counters. Traf-O-Data was not a business success, but it was the precursor to the Microsoft Corporation, which Allen and Gates founded in the spring of 1975.

Initially based in Albuquerque, as Gates and Allen had been working for the New Mexico-based company Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, the Microsoft headquarters moved to Bellevue, Washington, in early 1979, seeing its founders return to a location near their childhood turf.

The following year, 1980, was a pivotal one for Microsoft because the technology giant IBM awarded the company a contract that saw a Microsoft operating system used in the vaunted IBM Personal Computer, or PC. This was MS-DOS, the premier OS for several years, supplanted only by Windows, released in 1985, and one of the first graphic interface operating systems the world had ever seen.

Windows would become the dominant computer operating system over the next few decades, during which Microsoft also released software that would become wildly successful, such as the aforementioned Word and Excel, as well as PowerPoint.

Microsoft also developed its an email platform, known as Outlook, and even created a search engine named Bing, and so much more.

Microsoft's software

Microsoft released Microsoft Office — today rebranded as Microsoft 365 — in 1990, and soon the word processing and spreadsheet software therein included (namely Word and Excel) would become all but essential for office employees, students, writers, accountants, and myriad other people around the world.

But Microsoft hardly stopped with these more basic programs. The company would also develop OneDrive, a cloud data storage platform, Microsoft Azure, an advanced cloud computing service that lets you use powerful computers remotely, and Microsoft Copilot, the company's foray into the new and rapidly expanding world of artificial intelligence.

Many companies rely on Microsoft software, such as Teams, which helps people communicate, stay on schedule, and share files and documents, while many individuals rely on the advanced web browser Microsoft Edge to enhance the efficacy of their online searches.

Microsoft's software is so commonly used, and expertise in its programs have become so valuable, that the company even offers Microsoft certifications for IT specialists and developers who work with platforms like Microsoft 365 and Azure.

Beyond work and productivity software, services, and platforms, there is another arena in which Microsoft plays an outsized role: gaming.

Microsoft in the gaming world

Microsoft has been in the video game world since 1979, when "Microsoft Adventure" was released. It was a text-based problem-solving game with a feel not unlike a "Dungeons & Dragons" session.

Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the company would churn out many video games, but few were mainstream successes save for the many versions of "Microsoft Flight Simulator," which was first released in 1982.

It wasn't until Microsoft got into the console gaming world that true gaming success arrived. Designed to compete with Sony's successful PlayStation video game console, the Xbox was first released in 2001 and would become one of the most popular gaming platforms on the planet.

Now in its fourth generation of console, the Xbox's most popular games include the franchises "Call of Duty," "Grand Theft Auto," and "Fortnite," to name but a few.

Microsoft has added to its success and reach in the gaming world beyond its own original creations as well; it has also acquired heavy hitters in the space. For example, in September of the year 2014, Microsoft bought Mojang, maker of the popular gaming property "Minecraft," for $2.5 billion.

And then, in October 2023, the software juggernaut bought the gaming giant Activision Blizzard for the staggering sum of $68.7 billion. These were not Microsoft's only acquisitions, of course.

Microsoft acquisitions over the years

While Microsoft had acquired many other brands, products, and companies before the year 1997, that year marked its first major and highly visible move of the kind when Microsoft bought the popular email platform Hotmail for a $500 million, which is nearly a billion dollars today.

Hotmail was eventually rolled into Microsoft Outlook, though you can still get and use a Hotmail email address today.

In 2011, Microsoft made another powerful move when it acquired the video chat platform Skype, this time in a multibillion-dollar move.

In 2016, the software company laid out a hefty $26.2 billion to buy LinkedIn, the widely used professional networking and social media platform.

And in 2018, Microsoft acquired GitHub, a code developing platform, for the tidy sum of $7.5 billion. All of these acquisitions involve huge numbers, of course, as does the wealth of Microsoft's founder and the endowment of the charitable organization he established with his then-wife, Melinda Gates.

Bill Gates and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation by the numbers

At last check, Bill Gates' net worth was around $106 billion, making him, the former richest person in the world, not even in the top 10 richest list. He ranked 14^th richest, per Forbes, as of late 2024.

Gates has given tens of millions of dollars away, largely to his own nonprofit organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is focused on issues ranging from endemic diseases in developing nations to safe water supply issues and combatting hunger.

Married for 27 years prior to a divorce in the summer of 2021, Bill and Melinda Gates sat together on the board of their eponymous foundation for many years and even for three years following the marital split, though Melinda Gates finally departed the foundation in June 2024.

The foundation, which has offices in multiple countries across four continents, employs more than 2,000 people and has an endowment of more than $75 billion. According to data sourced from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation itself, in recent years it has offered charitable support between $7 and $8 billion, and the foundation had issued more than $77 billion in grant payments since its inception through the year 2023.

That's all an impressive amount of money, to be sure, and given for noble causes, but it pales in comparison to the profits of the Microsoft Corporation, profits that are often maintained thanks to harsh rounds of employee layoffs.

Microsoft finances, revenues, careers, and layoffs

Microsoft went public with its IPO in 1986 at a price of $21 per share. In the decades since, Microsoft stock pricing has swelled exponentially, and the company's total market cap — which is the entire value of a company's outstanding shares — reached an astonishing $3 trillion dollars by late 2024.

For a bit of perspective, that is larger than the annual gross domestic product of almost every nation on earth — were Microsoft's market cap placed on the scale with GDP, it would rank between France and Germany.

For the 12-month period ending in June 2024, Microsoft earnings were around $245 billion — in a one-year period, to be clear, the company generated nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars. It's no wonder, then, that Microsoft careers are highly sought after.

But jobs, though often lucrative, are also often tenuous. Microsoft's layoffs are often notorious for their size. For example, in the early fall of 2024, the company cut 650 workers from its gaming division only a few months after slashing 1,900 employees from its Activision Blizzard and Xbox departments.

In 2023, the company cut a huge swath of its labor force, dropping 10,000 workers. This was not the biggest layoff, though: between 2014 and 2015, the company axed nearly 20,000 employees. This was following the problematic acquisition of the telecom company Nokia, which also saw the exit of then-CEO Steve Ballmer.

• TikTok told its US employees that they'd still have jobs if the app goes dark.
• The company reassured staffers that the leadership team is planning for various scenarios.
• The Supreme Court is currently reviewing TikTok's request for more time on its divestment deadline.

TikTok reassured its US staffers on Tuesday that they'd still have jobs even if the app goes dark in a few days, as mandated by a divest-or-ban law.

In an internal memo shared with employees, the company confirmed to its US team that their "employment, pay, and benefits are secure, and our offices will remain open, even if this situation hasn't been resolved before the January 19 deadline." The company added that TikTok is a global platform and that only the US user experience would be impacted.

The Verge's Alex Heath first reported on the memo, which Business Insider independently verified. TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.

The memo acknowledged that this moment of uncertainty has been unsettling for the company and said TikTok's leadership team is planning for various scenarios as it charts its next steps.

TikTok employees who have spoken with BI have said they've often felt kept in the dark in recent weeks as they await a decision from the Supreme Court on a law that requires owner ByteDance to divest from the US version of TikTok or see it shut down. The company lost its legal challenge in the DC Circuit, and legal analysts told BI it's unlikely the Supreme Court will reverse that decision.

If TikTok does stop operating later this month, there's still a possibility that President-elect Donald Trump may try to rescue the app once in office, as he pledged to do on the campaign trail.