Latest news with #ByteDance
Business Times
14 hours ago
- Business
- Business Times
Indonesia antitrust agency finds risk of monopoly from TikTok's Tokopedia takeover
[JAKARTA] Indonesia's antitrust agency on Wednesday (May 28) said last year's takeover of the country's biggest e-commerce platform Tokopedia by TikTok carried a risk of monopoly. TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, in January 2024 completed a deal to buy 75.01 per cent of Tokopedia for US$840 million from GoTo. The antitrust agency said it had found during its investigation process a significant increase in market concentration and the possibility of post-acquisition price increases due to market dominance. TikTok declined to comment while Tokopedia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The antitrust agency has power to investigate and determine violations of competition law and impose fines or issue administrative sanctions, based on their findings. The agency listed several requirements for TikTok and Tokopedia, including ensuring open methods for payment and logistics and prohibition of self-preferencing and predatory pricing practices. It also asked the companies to provide monthly reports every three months for two years, as well as lists and agreement documents of logistics and payment partner companies both before and after the acquisition. The next hearing is on Jun 10. TikTok was forced to close its relatively new e-commerce service, TikTok Shop, in Indonesia after the country banned online shopping on social media platforms in September last year, citing the need to protect smaller merchants and users' data. REUTERS
Reuters
17 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Indonesia antitrust agency finds risk of monopoly from TikTok's Tokopedia takeover
JAKARTA, May 28 (Reuters) - Indonesia's antitrust agency said on Wednesday that last year's takeover of the country's biggest e-commerce platform Tokopedia by TikTok carried a risk of monopoly. TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, in January 2024 completed a deal that was agreed a month earlier to buy 75.01% of Tokopedia for $840 million from GoTo ( opens new tab.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
ByteDance upgrades Doubao AI app with real-time interactive video call function
TikTok parent ByteDance has upgraded its Doubao chatbot, one of China's most popular consumer-facing artificial intelligence (AI) apps , with the recent launch of a real-time video call function that turns the app into an interactive digital assistant. Advertisement The function allows users to engage in an interactive video conversation with the AI technology behind the chatbot, according to an announcement last Friday via Doubao's WeChat account. Users can activate the function by simply turning on their smartphone 's camera during a voice call. Once activated, Doubao can automatically serve in real time as a docent during a museum tour; a tutor with gardening knowledge when observing plants; a recipe master when shopping for ingredients at a grocery store; and an analyst when studying charts, graphs or videos. According to Doubao, the new function was built on ByteDance's visual reasoning AI model, which integrates visual and language inputs to support content creation and in-depth study of subject matter. It also supports online search to obtain the latest information from the internet. Doubao's real-time, interactive video call function shows the latest progress made by ByteDance in generative AI (GenAI), showcasing the advanced multimodal capabilities of products built on its own AI models. GenAI refers to algorithms used to create new content, including audio, code, images, text, simulations and videos. Advertisement Earlier this month, Doubao promoted its capabilities to turn any photo into pixel art. In February, parent ByteDance introduced its OmniHuman-1 multimodal AI model , which gained widespread attention for its ability to transform photos and sound bites into realistic videos.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Banned and branded: TikTok and tourism
TikTok is dangerous—until it's profitable. That's the unspoken message from dozens of U.S. states that banned the app from government devices while still using it to sell sunshine and sightseeing through their tourism boards. Since 2022, over 30 states, including Texas, Florida, and Montana, restricted TikTok on official networks, citing national security concerns. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called it a platform that "offers this trove of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government." Yet over at Visit Texas? Still dancing outside Buc-ee's like the algorithm depends on it. Florida passed similar restrictions under Gov. Ron DeSantis, but tourism accounts like @VisitCentralFL remain active on the platform, showcasing beaches and family attractions. And the federal government took aim too. President Biden signed a bill in April 2024 requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a nationwide ban, but the deadline passed months ago. TikTok wasn't sold. The app is still up, running, and increasingly central to tourism marketing across the country. Despite these political maneuvers, TikTok's popularity continues to soar. In 2024, the platform added approximately 100 million new users, bringing its total to around 1.6 billion active users worldwide. In the United States alone, TikTok boasts over 135 million users, making it a vital tool for reaching younger demographics. It's a contradiction that showcases the disconnect between political messaging and economic interests. TikTok may be painted as a national security threat in Washington, but it's still the go-to place to sell state parks and beach vacations to Gen Z. Moral panic aside, governors know a good ad platform when they see one. Even if their official policy says otherwise.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
TikTok bidder: South Dakota ‘certainly the front-runner'
MADISON, S.D. (KELO/AP) — Wyoming entrepreneur Reid Rasner, who has made a $47.45 billion bid to buy the social media app TikTok, was in Madison, S.D. at Dakota State University Friday alongside South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden. 'I think what you guys are advancing right here at Dakota State is a perfect match for what we're looking for, and your research will prove to be very essential to us and our plans moving forward,' Rasner said. 'I was of the opinion that it would be absolutely poetic for an American-owned TikTok to wind up in South Dakota, whether that would be in part or the whole thing,' Rhoden said. Police present at protest outside SF Penitentiary TikTok's parent company ByteDance is based out of China. Amid national security concerns, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law saying ByteDance must sell the social media app. President Donald Trump, however, has delayed an outright ban. 'Assuming they sell by the June 19th deadline, we would begin opening up discussions with Governor Rhoden further and implementing our public/private partnerships right here with Dakota State,' Rasner said. Rasner was full of praise for Rhoden as he looked ahead to TikTok's possible future. 'He has partnered with us in a very strong and vocal way,' Rasner said. 'We appreciate that. We love South Dakota, and we find that this is going to be a very great home for TikTok in the future and have a very special place with TikTok in the future, so it'll have a very strong footprint here.' And if Rasner's bid is successful, he says South Dakota is more than just a candidate for where TikTok might have a footprint. 'They're certainly the front-runner for our infrastructure right now, 100%,' Rasner said. How much of TikTok's infrastructure might be located in the state is unclear. Rasner unsuccessfully ran for a U.S. Senate seat in Wyoming as a Republican in 2024. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
