Alex Brandon/AP
This week TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeared before the U.S. Congress to address concerns over the app's potential national security risks and suspicions surrounding its relationship with the Chinese government.
As bipartisan support for a nationwide ban on TikTok grows, Chew's testimony aimed to clarify the company's position and alleviate these concerns while defending its commitment to user data privacy and security.
💡 You can watch the full testimony here.
This wasn’t the first time 👇
In 2020, President Donald Trump signed 2 executive orders aimed at banning TikTok. In response, ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, agreed to sell its U.S. operations to prevent a ban in the United States and other countries with similar privacy concerns.
As a result, Oracle and Walmart entered into talks with ByteDance for a potential joint acquisition of TikTok's U.S. operations. The ban ultimately went unseen during Trump’s presidency.
Alex Brandon/AP
The platform has faced bans in some countries, including India and Pakistan (multiple times). TikTok has also been banned on government devices in Canada, the United States, the European Union, and Taiwan.
Since then, TikTok has experienced explosive growth, largely thanks to the pandemic. Social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube began integrating similar functionalities to capitalize on the growing demand for short, engaging video content.
Takeaways From The Testimony 🔥
Before the congressional hearing, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew addressed users in a video discussing the potential ban and his upcoming testimony.
He highlighted TikTok's 150 million American users and 7,000 U.S. employees, urging users to share their thoughts on the platform with their elected representatives. This could be seen as a strategic move to improve public opinion, demonstrate the app's widespread popularity, and influence lawmakers to reconsider any possible ban.
Getty Images
💡 You can watch the video here.
Here are 5 key takeaways from the over 5-hour-long congressional hearing:
Washington is skeptical about TikTok: Lawmakers from both parties expressed deep skepticism about TikTok's attempts to protect user data and its ties to China.
TikTok's independence from China: Shou Chew emphasized the company's independence from China, its headquarters in Los Angeles and Singapore, and its 7,000 employees in the U.S. However, lawmakers remained unconvinced about the company's claims.
Data collection practices: Chew argued that TikTok's data collection practices are no different than those of other tech giants like Facebook and Twitter. Independent researchers have supported this claim.
TikTok's impact on children: Lawmakers expressed concerns about the app's impact on children and teenagers, accusing TikTok of promoting harmful content, such as self-harm and the "blackout challenge."
CEO's evasive responses: Some lawmakers criticized Chew for avoiding direct answers to their questions, with one comparing him to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
TikTok creators have had enough of Congress seemingly not understanding how the internet works https://t.co/j8IuhHd0yl
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics)
Mar 25, 2023
The congressional hearing garnered widespread support and opposition from TikTok users and social media users alike. Users took to social media to create memes and posts poking fun at the U.S. congress members for their seemingly ill-informed questions during the hearing.
Big Picture 👇
As one of the most popular platforms with over 150 million active users in the United States, TikTok has become a driving force for content creators and influencers.
If the ban is enforced, it would create a vacuum in the social media landscape, opening up opportunities for other platforms with similar offerings to TikTok. This shift could significantly impact creators who have built their careers on the platform, forcing them to adapt to new platforms and potentially altering the dynamics of the creator economy.
Adobe is Revolutionizing Creativity 🖼️
Adobe is launching its AI model, Adobe Firefly, which features a suite of creative generative AI tools. The first two tools released include an image generator similar to DALL-E and Midjourney and a stylized text generator.
They’re also planning to integrate the following tools:
🎨 Inpainting: Use a brush to add, remove, or replace objects in an image. Generate the new fill with a text prompt.
🤙 Personalized results: Generate images based on your own object or style.
◼️ Text to vector: Generate editable vectors from a detailed text description.
🖼 Extend image: Change the aspect ratio of your image with a single click.
🧊 3D to image: Generate images from the interactive positioning of 3D elements.
✨ Text to pattern: Generate seamlessly tiling patterns from a detailed text description.
🖌 Text to brush: Generate brushes for Photoshop and Fresco from a detailed text description.
✍️ Sketch to image: Turn simple drawings into full-color images.
📚 Text to template: Generate editable templates from a detailed text description.
Adobe Firefly distinguishes itself from competitors by openly discussing the data its models are trained on, only using content out of copyright, licensed for training, or part of Adobe Stock library.
This approach makes the system more brand-safe and respectful of artists' intellectual property. The company plans to compensate artists who contribute training data once the system exits its beta phase. Adobe is also developing a "Do Not Train" system to protect artists' work from being used for AI training without permission.
While #AdobeFirefly will eventually be made up of multiple models, its first model is trained on Adobe Stock, along with openly licensed and public domain content where copyright has expired. https://t.co/9AuYivfduj https://t.co/gXfVTue2K0
— Adobe (@Adobe)
Mar 21, 2023
The company plans to integrate these generative tools into its suite of creative apps, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere, in the future.
The public beta for Firefly's first two tools is now available through a beta access waitlist.
Canva Strikes Back.
Canva announced a suite of AI-powered design tools focused on helping entire workplaces streamline their content creation process just one day after Adobe launched its own AI tools.
The new features are designed to make creating content like social media graphics, presentations, and advertising materials more accessible to those without professional experience, leaving graphic designers free to tackle more pressing tasks.
With over 110 million monthly users, Canva's latest updates could challenge Adobe's ubiquity in some offices, especially as Adobe has recently announced new features for Adobe Express.
The New Generation of Sports Journalism 🎙
Kenny "KOT4Q" Beecham is becoming the face of sports journalism through his content. He recently appeared on Stephen A. Smith's podcast and is set to appear on ESPN's "First Take," one of the biggest sports talk shows on TV. This is a significant achievement for KOT4Q, who made a name for himself as a content creator on YouTube and is building businesses through his following.
Through The Wire - 252K subscribers (a basketball podcast)
KOT4Q - 1.3M subscribers (a basketball gaming channel)
Kenny For Real - 565K subscribers (a basketball commentary channel)
KennyToo - 258K subscribers (a basketball gaming channel)
Kenny 13aseball - 85.5K subscribers (a baseball channel)
Enjoy Basketball - 40,000+ email subscribers (a media company)
Former NBA players like Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes and current NBA players like Patrick Beverley, Paul George, Kevin Durant, and many more are all-embracing social media as a legitimate source of content.
His recent podcast appearance, collaboration with the Chicago Bulls, and pop-up event with Shopify show that social media is no longer just a platform for entertainment but a legitimate source of content and a way for individuals to make a name for themselves.
Generate looping kinetic typography animations in seconds using this web-based editor.
How to generate these kinetic typography videos in no time?
Go to the site under the thread > paste your own text > pick your colors and effects > export as seamless
mp4 loops👇 https://t.co/9mZEPTsst9— Hüseyin (@huseyingayiran)
Mar 25, 2023
You can now create AI-generated images directly within Adobe Photoshop. This plugin uses Stable Diffusion and DALLE-2.
Designers will never use Photoshop the same.
Stability AI is developing a Photoshop plugin to bring Stable Diffusion right into Photoshop👇 https://t.co/Uvb0Qx7pnr
— Rowan Cheung (@rowancheung)
Mar 18, 2023
OpenAI has introduced “plugins” or “apps” to their AI chatbot. It’ll now also be able to access the internet. You can now book flights, order groceries, and shop directly within ChatGPT. This feature is currently available through a waitlist.
we are starting our rollout of ChatGPT plugins.
you can install plugins to help with a wide variety of tasks. we are excited to see what developers create!
https://t.co/NQ684Yp2LK https://t.co/m7b6vJrj5D
— Sam Altman (@sama)
Mar 23, 2023
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