Tag: bytedance

Baidu, ByteDance, Other Chinese Firms Launch ChatGPT-Like Chatbots to Public

Five Chinese tech firms, including Baidu and SenseTime Group, on Thursday launched their artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to the public after receiving government approval, as China’s government pushes to widen the use of such products amid competition with the United States.

Baidu, China’s leading online search provider, said in a statement that its ChatGPT-like chatbot, Ernie Bot, was now fully accessible to the public. A SenseTime spokesperson told Reuters via email that its chatbot, SenseChat, was also now “fully available to serve all users”. 

Three AI start-ups, Baichuan Intelligent Technology, Zhipu AI and MiniMax, also announced similar public launches on Thursday.

Shares in Baidu and SenseTime jumped in Hong Kong trade, gaining 2.1 percent and 2.3 percent respectively in a broader market that was trading 0.55 percent lower. 

Unlike other countries, China requires companies to submit security assessments and receive clearance before releasing mass-market AI products.

Authorities have recently accelerated efforts to support companies developing AI as the technology increasingly becomes a focus of competition with the United States.

Chinese media reported that a total of 11 firms had received approvals from the government, including TikTok owner ByteDance and Tencent Holdings. Neither company immediately responded to requests for comment about their AI plans. 

Baidu’s CEO Robin Li said on Thursday that by making Ernie Bot widely available, Baidu would “collect massive amount of valuable real-world human feedback” to further improve the chatbot. 

Baidu also plans on releasing a series of “AI-native apps”, the company said. 

Early mover advantage

It is unclear whether Alibaba has received approval as of this week. But an Alibaba Cloud spokesperson told Reuters that the company had completed filings for its AI model, Tongyi Qianwen, and that the model was awaiting its official launch. 

The person also said the company expected the regulators to release a list of companies with approvals within the coming week. 

Being the first to market in China is considered critical for the country’s cut-throat internet industry. Baidu’s Ernie Bot topped the free app category on Apple‘s App Store in China on Thursday after the announcement. 

“I think the ones that got approved have an early mover advantage to be able to fine-tune their product faster than competitors,” Kai Wang, an analyst at Morningstar.

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, is on track to generate more than $1 billion (nearly Rs. 8,270 crore) in revenue over the next 12 months, tech-focused publication The Information reported on Tuesday. 

The approvals were widely anticipated after China published a set of interim rules aimed at regulating generative AI products for the public that went into effect on August 15. 

Previously, companies were only allowed to conduct small-scale public tests of AI products but with the new rules, companies have widened their AI product tests by enabling more features and engaging in more marketing. Prior government approval is not needed for products targeting businesses.

Shawn Yang, an analyst at Blue Lotus Capital Advisors, said the government’s move to greenlight AI products could spark consolidation in the industry. 

“Many people were rushing into the large language model business,” he said, “But the industry may soon consolidate. Only those with data and tech capability will be able to push forward.”

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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US Lawmakers Consider Changes to Bill That Could Give Government New Powers to Ban TikTok

U.S. lawmakers are considering changes to address concerns about a bill that would give the Biden administration new powers to ban Chinese-owned TikTok, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee who has cosponsored the legislation said on Monday.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner told Reuters that aggressive lobbying by the ByteDance-owned short video app TikTok against the Restrict Act “slowed a bit of our momentum” after it was introduced in March.

Warner said lawmakers have “a proposal on a series of amendments to make it explicitly clear” and address criticisms, including that individual Americans could be impacted or that the bill represents a broad expansion of government power.

“We can take care of those concerns in a fair way,” Warner said.

The legislation endorsed by the White House would grant the Commerce Department new authority to review, block, and address a range of transactions involving foreign information and communications technology that pose national security risks.

“I will grant TikTok this – they spent $100 million  (roughly Rs. 820 crore) in lobbying and slowed a bit of our momentum,” Warner said, adding that initially it seemed it would be almost “too easy” to get the bill approved.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Warner’s assessment of its lobbying.

In March, Republican Senator Rand Paul blocked a bid to fast-track a separate bill to ban TikTok introduced by Senator Josh Hawley, who said the Restrict Act “doesn’t ban TikTok. It gives the president a whole bunch of new authority.”

The Biden administration in March demanded TikTok’s Chinese owners divest their stakes or face a U.S. ban. Attempts in 2020 by then President Donald Trump to ban TikTok were blocked by U.S. courts.

Warner said there are a lot of conversations about the bill, adding it could be attached to an annual defense bill or could be part of a China-related bill that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer wants.

The need for legislation is clear, he said.

“There have been another three or four apps that have come out that are Chinese controlled so we need a fair rules-based process to deal with this rather than kind of a one-off basis,” Warner said.

TikTok, which is used by more than 150 million Americans, says it has spent more than $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 12,400 crore) on rigorous data security efforts and rejects spying allegations.

The company is fighting a ban by the state of Montana set to take effect on January 1. A judge has scheduled an October 12 hearing on TikTok’s request.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Spotify Planning to Test Full-Length Music Videos in App

Spotify Technology is considering adding full-length music videos to its app, which could help the streaming service better compete with Alphabet‘s YouTube and ByteDance‘s TikTok.

The service has already begun talking to partners about the product, according to people familiar with the plan who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak about it publicly. 

Spotify declined to comment. 

The feature would add to Spotify’s growing efforts to establish video — which in the streaming media era has tended to be more lucrative than audio — as a core part of its app. Spotify already allows musicians to upload “canvases,” or looping GIFs under 10 seconds long, that populate the screen while music plays. Earlier this year, it debuted a feature called “clips,” which are videos shorter than 30 seconds designed to give artists a storytelling tool to communicate about their music, similar to how they might use TikTok.

The company also launched a new, TikTok-esque music home screen in March that allows users to preview and swipe through surfacing videos before committing to listen to a full track. Earlier this week, Spotify announced that the platform has surpassed more than 100,000 podcasts with video.

Spotify is responding to growing competition for the Gen Z audience by YouTube and TikTok. YouTube operates a streaming music service and appeals to fans with full-length music videos, as well as the more concise Shorts. It has also added podcasts to YouTube Music. ByteDance has reportedly looked to expand its music streaming service Resso, which already operates in countries where Spotify is offered, and TikTok has become an important discovery platform for musical artists. 

Spotify previously set its sights on video by creating its own original series and working with media companies, including Paramount Global and Vice Media, to place TV content in the app, such as clips from the Comedy Central show Broad City. Those deals eventually lapsed.

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TikTok to Invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia, Says CEO

Short video app TikTok plans to invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia over the next few years, its CEO Shou Zi Chew said on Thursday.

Chew said at an event held in Indonesia that TikTok’s content is becoming more diversified as it adds more users and expands into e-commerce. TikTok is owned by China’s ByteDance.

Southeast Asia is one of TikTok’s biggest markets in terms of user numbers. But the platform has yet to translate the large user base into a major e-commerce revenue source as it faces fierce competition from bigger rivals of Sea’s Shopee, Alibaba’s Lazada and GoTo’s Tokopedia.

TikTok’s e-commerce platform lets consumers purchase goods through links on the app during livestreaming.

Chew said TikTok has 8,000 employees in Southeast Asia, and 2 million small vendors who are selling their wares on its platform, without elaborating further.

Meanwhile, TikTok is facing calls from US lawmakers and state officials to ban the app nationwide over concerns about potential Chinese government influence over the platform. Recently, a bipartisan group of six senators and two members of the House of Representatives introduced legislation to protect Americans’ data from being used by US adversaries. The bill aims to address concerns about the data of Americans using foreign-owned social media apps like TikTok. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, a Democrat, said the bill “would turn off the tap of data to unfriendly nations, stop TikTok from sending Americans’ personal information to China, and allow nations with strong privacy protections to strengthen their relationships.”

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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TikTok Users in Montana, US, File Lawsuit Seeking to Block State’s Ban on App

Five TikTok users in Montana who create content posted on the short-video app filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block the state’s new ban on the Chinese-owned platform.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed legislation to ban TikTok in the state, effective Jan. 1. The five users seek to block the law, which makes it unlawful for the app stores of Alphabet’s Google and Apple to offer TikTok within the state.

The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Montana late on Wednesday, names the state’s attorney general, Austin Knudsen, who is charged with enforcing the law.

The TikTok users argue the state seeks to “exercise powers over national security that Montana does not have and to ban speech Montana may not suppress.” The suit said users believe the law violates their First Amendment rights.

“Montana can no more ban its residents from viewing or posting to TikTok than it could ban the Wall Street Journal because of who owns it or the ideas it publishes,” the lawsuit said.

Emily Flower, a spokeswoman for Knudsen, said the state was ready for lawsuits. “We expected a legal challenge and are fully prepared to defend the law,” she said.

TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, has faced growing calls from US lawmakers and state officials to ban the app nationwide over concerns about potential Chinese government influence over the platform.

According to the lawsuit, the five plaintiffs, all Montana residents, include a designer of sustainable swimwear who uses TikTok to promote her company and engage with customers; a former US Marine Corps sergeant who uses TikTok to connect with other veterans; a rancher who uses TikTok to share content about her outdoor adventures; a student who is studying applied human physiology and shares content about her outdoor adventures; and a man who shares humorous videos on TikTok and earns revenue from the content he posts.

On Wednesday, following the governor’s signing of the law, Knudsen, who, like Gianforte, is a Republican, called TikTok “a Chinese Communist Party spying tool that poses a threat to every Montanan.”

TikTok on Wednesday, shortly after the governor signed the bill, said Montana’s ban “infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok,” and said it will “continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana.”

Gianforte said the bill will further “our shared priority to protect Montanans from Chinese Communist Party surveillance.”

TikTok has repeatedly denied that it has ever shared data with the Chinese government and has said the company would not do so if asked.

The suit is assigned to Judge Donald Molloy, who was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1995.

Montana, which has a population of just over 1 million people, said TikTok could face fines for each violation and additional fines of $10,000 (roughly Rs. 8,27,600) per day if it violates the ban.

An attempt by former President Donald Trump to ban new downloads of TikTok and WeChat through a Commerce Department order in 2020 was blocked by multiple courts and never took effect.  

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Former ByteDance Executive Says China Had ‘Supreme Access’ to All Data

A former head of engineering at Bytedance in the United States has said the company discharged him after he voiced concern to management that it was taking user content from other platforms, mainly Instagram and Snapchat.

The dispute comes at a time when ByteDance-owned app TikTok faces growing calls for a nationwide ban from some U.S. lawmakers regarding concerns about potential Chinese government influence over it.

Yintao “Roger” Yu said in a complaint filed on Friday in San Francisco state court that the Chinese tech company engaged in a “worldwide scheme to steal and profit from the content of others” without seeking permission.

When Yu raised these concerns to higher management, he said they dismissed them and asked him to hide the illegal program, especially from employees in the United States, as it had stricter IP laws and class actions.

He was later dismissed by ByteDance in November 2018.

Yu also said in the complaint that ByteDance created fabricated users to exaggerate its metrics and served as a useful propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

He is seeking a court order that would prohibit ByteDance from scraping content from other social media platforms.

In response to the complaint, ByteDance said, “We plan to vigorously oppose what we believe are baseless claims and allegations. Mr. Yu worked for ByteDance for less than a year.”

ByteDance also responded to the scraping allegations, saying it acquired data in line with industry practice and its global policy.

In April, Montana lawmakers passed a bill to ban its short-form TikTok app from operating in the state.

In March, U.S. lawmakers questioned TikTok’s Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew about potential Chinese influence, saying its short videos were damaging children’s mental health, reflecting bipartisan concerns about the app’s power over Americans.

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TikTok Advertisers Commit to Continue Spending on App Amid Threat of US Ban

Advertisers are committed to continue spending on TikTok due to its immense popularity with users despite threats of a potential ban in the U.S. over national security concerns, ad experts said.

The steadfastness comes as TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech firm ByteDance, is fighting to prevent a ban in the U.S. after lawmakers introduced a bill that would grant President Joe Biden’s administration authority to ban apps that pose security risks. The short-form video app has already been banned from government-issued phones in multiple countries.

TikTok is set to host a presentation for advertisers on Thursday evening in New York as part of NewFronts, an annual week of events where social media and streaming video platforms reveal new content and features for marketers.

Despite the concerns about its Chinese ownership, TikTok’s ad business is poised to grow 36 percent to $6.83 billion (roughly Rs. 55,800 crore) this year, according to research firm Insider Intelligence.

Ryan Detert, chief executive of Influential, an influencer marketing company, said that of the firm’s clients “none are saying ‘don’t spend money on TikTok,'” he said.

“There’s no contagion that we’re seeing,” he added. Influential has worked with brands including Pepsi and the NFL.

Two media buyers at two different major ad agencies told Reuters that Washington’s scrutiny over the app had yet to impact their clients’ plans on TikTok. The two buyers spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss relationships with TikTok.

At its presentation on Thursday, TikTok will announce a new ad format that will let brands place ads next to content from publishers like BuzzFeed, Dotdash Meredith and NBCUniversal, and will give a 50 percent cut of the ad revenue to those publishers.

“TikTok is irreplaceable unless and until (advertisers) have to replace it,” said Mark DiMassimo, founder of creative agency DiMassimo Goldstein, which has worked with brands such as Hello Fresh and Samsung.

Still, several media buyers acknowledged the threat of a U.S. ban would be the “elephant in the room” during the advertiser presentation.

On Tuesday, TikTok said its head of U.S. trust and safety would depart the company next week, leaving the app without a key executive who oversaw content moderation and the development of safety tools for the division that housed U.S. user data.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty combined with uncertainty in general about the economic situation,” said Stephani Estes, chief media officer at digital marketing agency Goodway Group. “You have to consider the what-ifs.”

TikTok said it is addressing advertiser concerns “head on in an open, fact-based and ongoing dialogue.”

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TikTok Usage Banned on Irish Government Devices Amid Cybersecurity Concerns

The state body responsible for advising the Irish government on cyber security recommended on Friday that staff at government departments and state agencies not use Chinese-owned video app TikTok on official devices.

A number of Western countries including Britain, the US and other European Union member states have barred TikTok over security concerns. The EU’s two biggest policymaking institutions also banned the app last month.

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, is under scrutiny from governments and regulators because of concerns that China’s government could use its app to harvest users’ data or advance its interests.

The head of Ireland’s National Cyber Security Centre said TikTok is on the “very high end, if not the highest end in terms of the amount of user data it collects” and that this created a risk, given the nature of Chinese intelligence-gathering law.

“The issue here is not what we know to be happening. The issue here rather is what we can’t rule out is happening,” NCSC director Richard Browne told national broadcaster RTE.

“Once the risk exists in this kind of context, then it puts us in a situation where the logical argument is that we take a sensible risk-based approach and ensure that government data can’t be compromised in this way.”

The NCSC said there was no reason why politicians could not use the app on their private devices and that it could be used on official devices in exceptional cases where there is a business need, such as by a press office.

TikTok runs a number of its European operations from Dublin, including data privacy and protection. It announced last month that it would open a second data centre in Ireland and reduce the transfer of data outside of the EU.

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TikTok to Get Banned in France for Use on Smartphones of Civil Servants

France will ban the use of Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok on the work phones of civil servants, Civil Service Minister Stanislas Guerini said on his Twitter account.

“In order to guarantee the cybersecurity of our administrations and civil servants, the government has decided to ban recreational applications such as TikTok on the professional phones of civil servants,” he said in a statement.

He added that for several weeks, several of France’s European and international partners have adopted measures to restrict or ban the downloading and installation of the TikTok application by their administrations.

Guerini said recreational applications do not have sufficient levels of cybersecurity and data protection in order to be deployed on administrations’ equipment, adding that the ban is effective immediately and that government services will monitor compliance.

He said that, exceptionally, exemptions can be given for professional reasons, such as institutional communication of an administration.

A string of Western governments and institutions have banned TikTok in recent weeks, including the UK parliament, the Dutch and Belgian administrations and the New Zealand parliament.

Late last month, the European Union’s two biggest policy-making institutions — the Commission and the Council — banned TikTok from staff phones for cybersecurity reasons.

Concerns have mounted globally about the potential for the Chinese government to access users’ location and contact data through ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company.

Meanwhile, US lawmakers at a congressional hearing on Thursday accused TikTok of serving harmful content and inflicting “emotional distress” on young users, grilling the Chinese-owned app’s CEO on the company’s outsized influence on teens.

Chew, in his first appearance before Congress, testified that while the “vast majority” of TikTok users are over the age of 18, the company has invested in measures to protect young people who use the app.

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TikTok CEO Grilled Over Security Concerns in Hearing With US Lawmakers

US lawmakers at a congressional hearing on Thursday accused TikTok of serving harmful content and inflicting “emotional distress” on young users, grilling the Chinese-owned app’s CEO on the company’s outsized influence on teens.

Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington, kicked off the hearing with TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew saying that within minutes of creating an account on TikTok, the content algorithm promotes self-harm and eating disorder content, and encourages “dangerous” challenges that can put kids’ lives at risk.

Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey, said content on TikTok “exacerbated feelings of emotional stress” in children.

Chew, in his first appearance before Congress, testified that while the “vast majority” of TikTok users are over the age of 18, the company has invested in measures to protect young people who use the app.

The hearing comes at a crucial moment for TikTok, as the Biden administration is facing growing pressure from lawmakers to ban the app in the country for national security concerns. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese tech company.

Lawmakers quizzed Chew about whether Americans’ user data could be accessed by the Chinese government as well as how it prevented harmful content from reaching young users.

Rep. Bob Latta, Republican from Ohio, spoke during the hearing of a 10-year-old girl who suffocated herself doing a so-called “blackout challenge” from videos posted on the app. Latta said TikTok should not be protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, a law that generally gives online platforms immunity for content generated by users.

Chew later said during the hearing that content such as dangerous challenges were prohibited from TikTok.

TikTok has rolled out more parental control tools recently, and earlier this month said it was in the early stages of developing a feature that would let parents to block their teens from seeing videos that contain certain words or hashtags.

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