Latest news with #TikTok-owner
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Trump Eyes Third TikTok Extension ahead of June 19 Deadline
Americans can't get enough of TikTok. A ban on the popular short-form app will likely cause annoyance and discomfort for hundreds of millions of U.S. users, something President Trump is well aware of. Now, he's planning to give TikTok another deadline extension ahead of the current deadline of June 19, according to the Wall Street Journal. Confident Investing Starts Here: Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter U.S. officials believe that TikTok-owner ByteDance, a Chinese company, has ties to China's government, making the app a risk to national security given its usage among 170 million Americans. In April 2024, former President Biden signed a bill giving TikTok nine months to find a U.S.-approved buyer. Nine months later, TikTok failed to find a buyer, which resulted in Trump stepping in with a 75-day extension. After that extension expired, Trump provided the company with another 75-day extension. TikTok Unlikely to Find Buyer until U.S.-China Trade Talks Resolve After Trump announced his sweeping tariffs, ByteDance informed the White House that China wouldn't agree to a TikTok sale until the two sides could come to terms on trade policies. Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi over the phone on Thursday, although TikTok wasn't discussed. Still, tensions between the two sides appear to be easing, with China granting suppliers of three top U.S. automakers with rare earth export licenses today, per Reuters.
CNBC
24-04-2025
- Business
- CNBC
South Korea says DeepSeek transferred user data to China and the U.S. without consent
South Korea's data protection authority has concluded that Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek collected personal information from local users and transferred it overseas without their permission. The authority, the Personal Information Protection Commission, released its written findings on Thursday in connection with a privacy and security review of DeepSeek. It follows DeepSeek's removal of its chatbot application from South Korean app stores in February at the recommendation of PICP. The agency said DeepSeek had committed to cooperate on its concerns. During DeepSeek's presence in South Korea, it transferred user data to several firms in China and the U.S. without obtaining the necessary consent from users or disclosing the practice, the PIPC said. The agency highlighted a particular case in which DeepSeek transferred information from user-written AI prompts, as well as device, network, and app information, to a Chinese cloud service platform named Beijing Volcano Engine Technology Co. While the PIPC identified Beijing Volcano Engine Technology Co. as "an affiliate" of TikTok-owner ByteDance, the information privacy watchdog noted in a statement that the cloud platform "is a separate legal entity and has no relation to ByteDance," according to a Google translation. According to PIPC, DeepSeek said it used Beijing Volcano Engine Technology's services to improve the security and user experience of its app, but later blocked the transfer of AI prompt information from April 10. DeepSeek and ByteDance did not immediately respond to inquiries from CNBC. The Hangzhou-based AI startup took the world by storm in January when it unveiled its R1 reasoning model, rivaling the performance of Western competitors despite the company's claims that it was trained for relatively low costs and with less advanced hardware. However, the app's rising popularity quickly triggered national security and data concerns outside China due to Beijing's requirement for domestic firms to share data with the PRC. Cybersecurity experts have also flagged data vulnerabilities in the app and voiced concerns about the company's privacy policy. PIPC on Thursday said it had issued a corrective recommendation to DeepSeek, which includes requests to immediately destroy AI prompt information transferred to the Chinese company in question and to set up legal protocols for transferring personal information overseas. When the data protection authority announced the removal of DeepSeek from local app stores, it signaled that the app would become available again once the company implemented the necessary updates to comply with local data protection policy. That investigation followed reports that some South Korean government agencies had banned employees from using DeepSeek on work devices. Other global government departments, including in Taiwan, Australia, and the U.S., have reportedly instituted similar bans.
RTÉ News
23-04-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
European regulators crack down on Big Tech
European regulators have launched a series of investigations into Big Tech in recent years. Here are some of the actions taken: Digital Markets Act The European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) took effect in 2022 with the aim of curbing the power of Big Tech and ensuring a level playing field for smaller rivals. Apple was fined €500m and Meta €200m under the DMA on April 23. People with direct knowledge of the matter had in March said the fines would be modest, as the antitrust enforcer is focused on making sure companies comply with the law rather than sanctioning them. The investigations are part of three probes started by the European Commission, which acts as the EU competition watchdog. The EC is also investigating Alphabet's Google over possible breaches, and charged Meta last July for failing to comply with the DMA in its new pay or consent advertising model. In September 2023, the EU named 22 "gatekeeper" services run by Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok-owner ByteDance, giving them six months to comply with the provisions of the DMA. Meta and TikTok appealed against the gatekeeper status in November 2023, with the latter losing a bid to suspend its designation in February 2024. Apple said in April 2024 it would continue to engage with the Commission to comply with the rules. Digital Services Act Tech companies are required to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content on their platforms under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) that came into effect last year. Meta's Facebook and Instagram are being investigated for potential breaches of EU online content rules relating to child safety, which could lead to hefty fines, the Commission said in May 2024. Antitrust The European Commission fined Meta €797.72m in November over abusive practices benefiting Facebook Marketplace. In September, Google won its challenge against a €1.49 billion antitrust fine imposed five years ago for hindering rivals in online search advertising. A week earlier, Google lost its fight against a €2.42 billion fine by EU antitrust regulators seven years ago for using its own price comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals. On the same day, Apple lost the fight against an order by EU competition regulators to pay €13 billion in back taxes to Ireland, as part of a larger crackdown against sweetheart deals between multinationals and EU countries. Regulators said last July that Apple had agreed to open its tap-and-go mobile payments system to rivals to settle an EU antitrust probe. Brussels fined Apple €1.84 billion last March for thwarting competition from music streaming rivals via restrictions on its App Store. The Commission in June charged Microsoft with illegally bundling its chat and video app Teams with its Office product. It is also probing Microsoft's security software practices, a document seen by Reuters showed in February. European states Individual European countries have also taken actions against Big Tech. Apple lost an appeal on March 18 against a regulatory assessment that opens it up to stricter controls in Germany, following years of debate over its market position. Britain's antitrust regulator in September provisionally found Google had abused its dominant position in digital advertising to restrict competition. A month earlier, it started probes into its parent Alphabet and Amazon's collaboration with AI startup Anthropic. Other measures include a fine against Meta in Italy over unfair commercial practices and a French fine against Google for breaching EU intellectual property rules. A Spanish regulator, meanwhile, opened an investigation into possible anti-competitive behaviour by Apple's App Store last July.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump: four groups in talks on TikTok sale, deal could come soon
STORY: Donald Trump says a deal to sell TikTok could be close. Speaking to journalists on Air Force One on Sunday, he said there was a lot of interest: 'Sir, do you think there's going to be a deal on TikTok soon?' 'There could be. We're dealing with four different groups and a lot of people want it. And it's up to me. So there could be.' TikTok-owner ByteDance had faced a January deadline to sell the app or shut down in the U.S. The previous U.S. administration had viewed the Chinese app as a national security risk - as did Trump in his first term. But he has since revised his position, and on returning to office signed an executive order delaying the ban by 75 days. Trump subsequently floated the idea of selling it to parties including Elon Musk, his ally in government cost-cutting efforts. He has also suggested the U.S. should get a stake in the app, which analysts value at up to $50 billion. Speaking last week, Trump said the 75-day deadline could be extended if more time is needed to do a deal: "Look, we have a lot of interest in TikTok and China is going to play a role. And so hopefully China will approve of the deal, but they're going to play a role. But we have a lot of interest in TikTok' On Monday, the identity of the four interested groups mentioned by Trump wasn't clear. Among those to recently express an interest is former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. There was no immediate comment on Trump's claims from TikTok or ByteDance.
Bloomberg
21-02-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
TikTok Owner ByteDance Is Tech Darling Again With $400 Billion-Plus Valuation
At least three of Bytedance Ltd. 's major investors have marked up the TikTok-owner's valuation to more than $400 billion, a sharp rebound for a Chinese social video leader that has been threatened with a US shutdown. SoftBank Group Corp. 's Vision Fund revalued the company to north of $400 billion in December, factoring in potential for its artificial-intelligence business Doubao, according to people familiar with the matter. Investing giants Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. have also marked up ByteDance, valuing it at above $410 billion and $450 billion, respectively, according to Bloomberg calculations based on November filings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
