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Cliff Tan faced backlash from fans after posting a paid promotion for an AI company, arguing that interior designers must learn to use AI if they want future work. Despite negative comments, Tan stated he couldn't ignore AI's potential and justified promoting the technology as it would be irresponsible otherwise.

SoftBank reported its profit for the fiscal first quarter, resulting in a beat against market expectations. This positive financial outcome was noted as being boosted by stakes held in Intel and TikTok-owner ByteDance.

TikTok paused a short-lived dating feature that connected users in live chat rooms, some of which contained inappropriate content. The feature, tested in the 'hangout' section of the app, was inspired by similar livestream blind dates popular on its sister app in China, Douyin.

Seedance 2.5 introduces features like 'one-take creation' and 'flexible referencing' for content production. The update was shared via the Seed blog and received 45 points and 12 comments on Hacker News.

Seventeen Chinese entrepreneurs have held the title of the country’s richest billionaire in the past 27 years, four times more than in the US, according to Hurun Group, which attributes the frequency to China's market dynamism. Key figures include ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Shanshan, and Country Garden chairwoman Yang Huiyan, representing technology, consumption, and property sectors.

Chinese tech giants like ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent are shifting focus to AI-driven enterprise solutions to boost profitability. ByteDance is restructuring to integrate its workplace tool with Doubao, China's most used standalone AI app, while companies previously competed with free offerings but now face challenges in achieving profits despite technological advancements like Moonshot’s Kimi K3 model.

Seedance, a ByteDance-owned AI video app, partners with Gauth, an AI-powered edtech app, to create cinematic AI-generated videos for educational content. The collaboration, launching August 4, will transform subjects like history into visual stories with adaptive quizzes, targeting a younger audience.

MiniMax, a Chinese AI firm, launched H3, a new multimodal video generation model with open weights and competitive pricing to challenge ByteDance's Seedance 2.5. H3 is currently ranked as the world's most powerful AI model in video editing by Artificial Analysis but trails Google’s Gemini Omni Flash in text-to-video tasks and lags behind Seedance 2.0 and Gemini Omni.

MiniMax launched H3, a new multimodal video generation model, emphasizing open weights and low pricing to challenge ByteDance. H3 ranks as the most powerful AI model in video editing by Artificial Analysis but trails Google’s Gemini Omni Flash and ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 in text-to-video tasks.

ByteDance is restructuring its enterprise collaboration unit by integrating Lark's product team into the Doubao AI chatbot team, focusing on AI for corporate clients. The company's annualized AI revenue of US$4 billion positions it as a leader in China's AI market.

ByteDance has integrated its Lark office tool product team into the Doubao AI chatbot team, focusing on corporate AI services as its annualized AI revenue reaches US$4 billion, positioning it as a leader in China's AI market.

ByteDance, the Chinese company behind TikTok, is investing heavily in AI. Some analysts describe this strategy as a significant risk.

The European Commission found TikTok violated its Digital Services Act by failing to protect minors' privacy, allowing adult users to access children's accounts, exposing them to cyberbullying and predatory behavior. TikTok may face a fine up to 6% of its annual revenue if it does not address the EU's concerns, and the platform acknowledged reviewing the findings while emphasizing its commitment to protecting minors online.

The European Union fined Google $1 billion for antitrust violations related to Google Play and search, accusing it of favoring its own services and limiting competition. Google must comply with the ruling within 60 days or face additional penalties. The EU has previously fined Google $4.5 billion for similar practices.

Social platforms like YouTube and TikTok are updating guidelines to address AI-generated content, prioritizing original storytelling over mass-produced spam. YouTube aims to demonetize repetitive AI content, while TikTok requires labeling and uses watermarks for AI-generated videos.

Tech firms in China are developing AI-powered smartphones capable of executing tasks like ordering food and composing messages via voice commands. However, major apps such as Alibaba, Tencent, and JD.com have restricted access to their platforms for these AI agents, limiting their functionality. Companies like Nubia, Honor, and StepFun are showcasing devices with AI integration at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai.

President Trump permitted Nvidia to sell H200 AI chips to China, but Beijing later banned their orders to prioritize domestic tech. China's tech isolation strategy aims to boost local innovation but risks slowing progress by cutting off global tech access. The country's historical openness in the 1980s fueled growth in sectors like telecommunications, while internet controls created a self-contained digital ecosystem.

Federal employees can now download TikTok on government devices after ByteDance transferred control of U.S. operations to a majority American-owned joint venture, TikTok U.S. Data Security. The Department of Justice concluded this restructuring eliminated national security risks, reversing a 2022 ban. A 2024 law required ByteDance to divest or face a U.S. ban, upheld by the Supreme Court in 2025.

China's tech giants, including ByteDance, are driving the rise of AI tokens as a new corporate currency. A Beijing-based ByteDance employee uses nearly a billion AI tokens monthly, highlighting the integration of AI into daily tasks.

Chinese users are bidding emotional farewells to AI companions as new regulations mandate the suspension of services that foster emotional dependency. Major providers like ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent have halted custom AI agent features, sparking public grief and discussions about the role of AI in human relationships.

Nvidia has shipped a small number of H200 AI chips to China and Hong Kong, according to a Trump administration official, following US approval of sales to 10 Chinese firms including Tencent and ByteDance. The shipments mark the first deliveries since December 2023 when President Trump authorized the sales.

China has eased a boycott of higher-end Nvidia processors, allowing companies like Alibaba, ByteDance, and DeepSeek to purchase H200 chips. The move aims to balance concerns over AI developer chip shortages against the risk of over-reliance on U.S. technology.

Tokopedia, Indonesia’s e-commerce giant majority-owned by ByteDance, has denied mass lay-offs but confirmed restructuring, sparking concerns about Southeast Asia’s tech winter. Analysts warn the situation highlights ongoing challenges in Indonesia’s digital economy and raise questions about Tokopedia’s integration into ByteDance’s ecosystem.

Apple lost its challenge against the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which designates its app stores and iOS as gatekeepers with obligations to promote competition. The DMA, effective since May 2023, allows fines up to 10% of a company's global turnover and has faced legal challenges from Apple, Meta, and ByteDance.

Chinese authorities are considering restrictions on overseas access to China's most advanced AI models. Meetings with Alibaba, ByteDance, and Z.ai have been held to discuss curbing foreign access to frontier models.

ByteDance and Alibaba are removing agent features from their apps due to China's new regulations targeting humanlike AI. Beijing's first rules on emotional AI require major apps to shut down custom agents.

ByteDance and Alibaba are disabling AI companion features ahead of new China rules effective July 15, which target emotional dependence and harmful content for minors.

Researchers at ByteDance discovered a new scaling law showing AI agents can double their learning speed every three months through real-world task interactions, potentially extending the AI boom as traditional methods face limitations.

Bytedance's TikTok has dominated social media, and its AI video generation model Seedance is now attracting Hollywood filmmakers, independent artists, and executives. The former majority owner of TikTok is actively engaging with these creative professionals to showcase Seedance's capabilities.

China has 381 unicorns in the 2026 Hurun Global Unicorn Index, up 38 from last year, with ByteDance ranked in the global top 3. The country now creates a new unicorn every five days, double the previous year's rate.

ByteDance, the TikTok developer, is seeking a record $20 billion offshore loan to fund its AI buildout. The loan has a three-year tenor with an option to extend to five years.

ByteDance is accelerating its shift to domestic AI chips, potentially benefiting smaller Chinese chipmakers as it seeks alternatives to Nvidia amid regulatory challenges. The company may turn to tier-two chip suppliers, including rivals to Huawei Technologies and Cambricon Technologies, for cloud infrastructure.

Florida is suing TikTok for allegedly exposing children to harmful content and deceiving parents. The state seeks a court order to modify TikTok's platform and penalties of up to $50,000 per violation.

Florida filed a lawsuit against TikTok, alleging the platform violates state laws by targeting minors, deceiving parents about content risks, and failing to comply with new child protection regulations. The state claims TikTok's design exploits children's addictive behaviors and exposes them to harmful content, including sex, drugs, and self-harm.

TikTok has introduced mini games to its app, which users can play without leaving the platform. These games, rated 18+, are developed by third-party companies and serve as an advertising strategy to boost engagement and ad revenue. The platform's expansion into gaming aligns with its super app strategy, similar to its Chinese counterpart Douyin.

ByteDance's AI chatbot Doubao censored a query about the phrase 'It’s my duty,' linked to a 1989 protest covered by the BBC. The phrase has become a symbol of protest in China, resurfacing during 2022's June 4th anniversary and zero-COVID protests, prompting censorship on platforms like Weibo and QQ Music. AI systems and traditional measures blocked related content, including social media changes, promotions, and embassy posts.

General Mills is selling its Häagen-Dazs ice-cream shops in mainland China to an investor group including Chinese tea brand Ningji. The deal grants exclusive rights to operate Häagen-Dazs shops and gifting businesses in China, while General Mills retains sales of Häagen-Dazs ice cream through retail and food service channels. Analysts note declining relevance of Häagen-Dazs' premium-priced, high-fat products in China, where low-fat gelato options are gaining popularity.

The article discusses whether AI and influencers can sustain ByteDance's leadership as China's premier app factory. A weekly podcast on China explores factors affecting ByteDance's continued success.

ByteDance has lost Gu Quanquan, a key AI researcher behind Seed models, as the company shifts focus to monetizing its AI offerings like Doubao. Gu Quanquan, also a UCLA computer science professor, announced his departure from ByteDance.

Climate tech companies like Solv Energy, X-energy, and Fervo Energy have seen successful IPOs with valuations exceeding $6 billion, $11.5 billion, and $12.4 billion respectively, driven by rising electricity demand from data centers. The article also highlights the AI Hype Index, regulatory developments in AI safety laws, and tech industry moves in clean energy and AI chip production.