Hey, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter recapping noteworthy happenings in tech over the past few days.
This week, TechCrunch viewed leaked documents out of SpaceX showing some questionable practices related to employee stock options.
X CEO Elon Musk announced that he would open source Grok, X’s AI-powered chatbot meant to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Grok — developed by Musk’s AI startup, xAI — was released last year, armed with features such as access to “real-time” information on X and views undeterred by “politically correct” norms.
On Found, Becca and Dom spoke with Rebecca Hu, the CEO and co-founder of Glacier, an AI robotics company that’s building robots to accurately sort recycling.
TikTok users, however, are not taking the changing political winds — and their consequences — sitting down.
TechCrunch spoke with several TikTok users that are incensed about, and fighting back against the potential ban of TikTok.
But while the talk of a possible ban is getting all the press, what about the potential of TikTok simply being divested from its parent company, Bytedance?
That would resolve the United States’ government’s issues, right?
So, the bill may have two tracks in it for TikTok, but it could really just be a single-issue law in practice.
A bill threatening to ban an app beloved by half of the American population just rocketed through the House of Representatives in a week’s time.
TikTok the company and TikTok the chaotic community of creators and their followers are rightfully freaking out right now.
TikTok successfully fought back against a state-level ban on the app in Montana last year, arguing that the law was unconstitutional.
Missouri Republican Josh Hawley, who frequently sows concern about China, registered his support for a Senate version of the TikTok bill following the vote.
Senator Marsha Blackburn, another Senate Republican hawkish on China, also expressed her support for pushing a version of the House TikTok bill through.
Italy’s competition and consumer authority, the AGCM, has fined TikTok €10 million (almost $11M) following a probe into algorithmic safety concerns.
Moreover, this content is systematically re-proposed to users as a result of their algorithmic profiling, stimulating an ever-increasing use of the social network,” the AGCM wrote.
The authority said its investigation confirmed TikTok’s responsibility in disseminating content “likely to threaten the psycho-physical safety of users, especially if minor and vulnerable”, such as videos related to the “French scar” challenge.
One notable change as a result of the DSA is TikTok offering users non-profiling based feeds.
TikTok also faces the possibility of increasing regulation by Member State level agencies applying the bloc’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
Instagram is working on a feature that would allow you to let others put a ‘Spin’ on your ReelInstagram is working on a “Spins” feature for Reels, its short-form video TikTok clone, the company confirmed to TechCrunch.
The feature, which was first spotted by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, would allow other users to swap out the text or audio in your Reels.
The feature could be used as a way for users to start trends by creating templates that other people can then put their own creative spin on.
#Instagram keeps working on “Spins” for #Reels 👀 ℹ️ Allow people to swap out text or audio in your Reel.
If released, the new feature would give Reels users and viewers access to a functionality that isn’t available on TikTok.
Creators are frustrated but energized as TikTok ban gains momentum TikTok creators and their followers want their concerns taken seriously — and plan to push backThe bill that could ban TikTok took one step closer to becoming a law on Wednesday.
Some lawmakers’ offices reported that they were being overloaded with calls from angry TikTok users, a situation that was parodied by late night host Stephen Colbert.
“This time around is just so going much faster within the legislative process,” Jules Terpak, a gen Z tech commentator on TikTok, told TechCrunch.
Though there is no evidence of the CCP spying on TikTok, there has been evidence of ByteDance accessing TikTok data without authorization.
My understanding of the push to ban TikTok pic.twitter.com/KMXtWuFbS5 — Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) March 13, 2024Phillips has been frustrated by condescending attitudes toward TikTokers.
TechCrunch Minute: The TikTok ban, or at least the effort to force its sale, is gaining steamAnd some folks are pretty mad about it!
After a House subcommittee passed a bill that would force a sale of TikTok or ban the app from American app stores, debate reignited around the internet regrading whether or not the social service should face such harsh choices.
On the pro-TikTok side former President Donald Trump flipped his views, and Elon Musk has spoken against the possibility.
On the other hand, there’s a surprisingly united Congress, concerns about data safety, and fears that TikTok could be used to influence the American electorate.
This raises the question: Why not just divest the asset so that we can put the issue to bed?
The House voted on Wednesday in favor of a bill to require TikTok to sever its connection with parent company ByteDance or face a ban, moving the legislation forward with surprising speed.
President Joe Biden has already said that he would support the legislation, but TikTok faces an uncertain fate as the bill heads to the Senate.
“Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people,” Trump said.
The bill’s quick progress out of committee last week to a full House vote appears to have caught TikTok by surprise.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew also headed to Capitol Hill to drum up opposition to the bill before Wednesday’s vote.
TikTok ban: What’s going on with the proposed bill in Congress Congress could force TikTok to part with its Chinese parent companyTikTok faces an uncertain fate in the U.S. once again.
The bill, which many of its detractors reasonably describe as a “ban,” would force ByteDance to sell TikTok within six months for the app to continue operating here.
The campaign to force ByteDance to sell TikTok to a U.S. company originated with an executive order during the Trump administration.
Trump’s threats against the company culminated in a plan to force TikTok to sell its U.S. operations to Oracle in late 2020.
We may learn more next week if senators begin weighing in on the prospect of creating their own version of the House bill.
TikTok is expanding its Effect Creator Rewards monetization program to more regions and lowering its payout threshold, the company announced today.
The program, which launched in May 2023, rewards creators for the effects they make through TikTok’s AR development platform, Effect House.
TikTok is also updating the program’s payout model, as creators will now only receive rewards for effects used in public videos.
Effect Creator Rewards is now available in a total of 53 regions.
Previously, creators needed an effect to have been used in 200,000 qualified videos within 90 days for the effect to start collecting rewards.
