Tech Meme

NBC News: ByteDance’s TikTok and CapCut suspend service in the US, telling users “Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok”  —  Users reported being unable to access TikTok Saturday after a pop-up message from the company came up on their screens saying “a law banning TikTok has been enacted.” Lees verder op Tech Meme

Will Oremus / Washington Post: TikTok bans in countries around the world have played out quite differently; Instagram Reels largely replaced TikTok in India, following TikTok’s ban in 2020  —  India’s 2020 crackdown helped give rise to Instagram Reels, which has largely replaced it there.  But TikTok has proved more resilient elsewhere. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Matthew Green / A Few Thoughts on Cryptographic Engineering: A close look at some privacy implications of AI interfacing with messaging apps and other E2EE systems, Apple’s approach to “Private Cloud Compute”, and more  —  Recently I came across a fantastic new paper by a group of NYU and Cornell researchers entitled “How to think about end-to-end encryption and AI.” Lees verder op Tech Meme

Politico: Congressional leaders seem flummoxed by the growing popularity of Chinese-owned apps Xiaohongshu and Lemon8, an unintended consequence of the TikTok ban  —  The Chinese apps RedNote and Lemon8 have exploded in popularity as TikTok faces an imminent ban and the Supreme Court upheld the law forcing its sale. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Kevin Roose / New York Times: As the TikTok eulogies pour in from some creators, very few Americans seem concerned that one of the nation’s most popular social media apps will disappear  —  So this may be the way TikTok ends: not with a bang, but with a whimper.  —  Over the past few weeks, as the Jan. 19 deadline loomed … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Hayden Field / CNBC: Source: Perplexity AI made a TikTok US bid to ByteDance, proposing a merger that brings video to Perplexity, with ByteDance investors retaining their stakes  —  Perplexity AI officially made a play for TikTok on Saturday, submitting a bid to its parent company, ByteDance … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Axios: CoinGecko: $TRUMP rose more than 600% overnight and was trading at just over $32 as of 11AM ET, giving it a fully diluted market capitalization of $32B+  —  – It also speaks to the nature of the crypto industry that someone could have $25 billion worth of something that literally did not exist 24 hours previously. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Joseph Menn / Washington Post: A whistleblower complaint claims Amazon paid $380M for licensing robot maker Covariant’s tech and hiring its staff, and the deal merits antitrust scrutiny  —  Filing details $400 million license for smart robot system and claims retail giant’s “reverse acquihire” contract limits competition and merits antitrust scrutiny. Lees verder op Tech Meme

NBC News: Trump says he will “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve after he takes office on Monday “because it’s appropriate”  —  Trump spoke to NBC News’ Kristen Welker in an exclusive phone interview Saturday, discussing his plans on what to do about the popular social media app. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Ana Faguy / BBC: The White House says TikTok’s threat to shut down is a “stunt” as there is “no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions” before Trump takes office  —  The White House has said a threat by TikTok to shut down in the US on Sunday unless tech firms get assurances … Lees verder op Tech Meme