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July 12, 2026
 

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BYTEDANCE

AI-generated video is now good enough to monetize, with China’s Kuaishou showing how focused, paid tools can scale globally while amplifying deepfake and copyright risks.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2026
Chinese AI videos used to look fake. Now they look like money.
In China, AI video is doing something else that once looked unlikely: making money.
Instead of worrying about disruption, investors in China are chasing perceived winners, drawn by AI’s growth prospects and its potential to drive cost savings for end users.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 22, 2026
China defies global ‘AI scare trade’ as investors chase winners
One key reason for the divergence in investor focus is China’s relatively insulated competitive landscape.
Advertising promoting ByteDance's cloud and AI service platform Volcano Engine and chatbot Doubao hangs at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing on Feb. 5.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Feb 14, 2026
All-in on AI: what TikTok creator ByteDance did next
The tech giant created China’s most popular chatbot, Doubao, which has built up more than 100 million daily users since its inception in 2023.
Despite Donald Trump’s celebratory claims that TikTok’s U.S. odyssey is over, the formerly Chinese-owned app now faces mounting challenges around growth, competition, governance, user trust and execution that could quickly erode its immense value.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 30, 2026
The TikTok U.S. saga isn’t over — it’s just beginning
To call the saga over — as many headlines did — would be unwise. Its challenges are only just beginning.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 22.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 27, 2026
California’s Newsom accuses TikTok of suppressing content critical of Trump
The Democratic governor launched a review of the platform’s ‍content moderation ⁠practices to determine if they violated state law.
Technology leaders at U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January included, from right, Sundar Pichai of Google, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, inside the Capitol Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, on Jan. 20, 2025.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 26, 2026
Addictive by design? Social media giants face jury in child harm lawsuit
The companies are accused of addicting young users to content that has led to depression, eating disorders, psychiatric hospitalization and even suicide.
The office of ByteDance, which owns TikTok, in Singapore in January 2023
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jan 24, 2026
TikTok in the U.S. goes American, but questions remain
Whether the 200 million users in the United States will notice any difference in their online experience remains unclear.
AI-powered photo-editing tools show immense potential for restoring and manipulating images for consumers and advertisers, but current limitations and the high risk of misuse highlight challenges for both technology and regulators.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2025
Photoshopping, not chatbots, might be AI’s killer app
Enforcement across the world wide web remains an open question and rising mistrust of digital media could trigger stricter interventions elsewhere.
U.S. President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2025
Trump signs order declaring TikTok sale ready and values it at $14 billion
The publication of the executive order shows Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok’s U.S. assets.
The TikTok app page in the Apple App store is displayed on a smartphone on Jan. 15. A potential tie-in with the popular TikTok service will help Fox reach young audiences in new ways, exposing them to everything from broadcast TV shows to streaming businesses like the ad-supported Tubi and Fox One, a paid online platform.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 23, 2025
After MySpace losses, Murdochs mull social media return with TikTok tie-up
A Fox investment in TikTok would give the media empire a platform with 170 million U.S. users to promote a broad range of TV programming — from the NFL to The Simpson.
Media mogul Lachlan Murdoch (L) and his wife Sarah at the White House in 2019. U.S. President Donald Trump says that Murdoch and business leaders Larry Ellison and Michael Dell will be involved in an upcoming deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 22, 2025
Lachlan Murdoch, Michael Dell, Ellison involved in TikTok deal, Trump says
The proposed investors would give Trump influence over an app that helps shape public discourse on politics and culture with its 170 million U.S. users.
U.S. and Chinese officials have agreed on a framework to keep ByteDance’s TikTok app running in the U.S.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 17, 2025
TikTok lives: U.S. and China in deal for app to keep operating in United States
The agreement requires TikTok’s American assets to be transferred to U.S. owners from China’s ByteDance, potentially resolving a saga that has lingered for nearly a year.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to the media as U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer looks on following U.S.-China talks on trade, economic and national security issues, in Madrid on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 16, 2025
U.S. and China reach framework deal on TikTok; Trump and Xi to speak Friday
It is the second time this year that the two sides have said they were nearing a TikTok deal.
The ByteDance logo at the company's office building in Shanghai in 2023. The company plans to offer to buy back current employees shares at a price 5.5% higher than it offered in a previous repurchase program about six months ago.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 28, 2025
TikTok owner ByteDance sets valuation at over $330 billion in planned buyback
The latest buyback at a higher valuation will come as ByteDance consolidates its position as the world’s largest social media company by revenue.
Japan will be the newest addition to the list of countries where TikTok Shop is available, which already includes the U.S. and the Philippines.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 17, 2025
TikTok Shop to launch e-commerce service in Japan as soon as this month
The service, already available in several other countries, allows users to purchase promoted products directly from the social media app.
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta, departs federal court in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 17, 2025
Meta saw TikTok as ‘highly urgent’ threat, Zuckerberg says at trial
Zuckerberg was composed, but occasionally evasive, when challenged to explain past messages indicating a concerted effort to muscle out competitors.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner speaks as others look on during a news conference to unveil legislation that would allow the White House to "ban or prohibit" foreign technology products such as the Chinese-owned video app TikTok during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington in March 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 8, 2025
Top Democratic senator says new Trump TikTok extension may violate law
Sen. Mark Warner also said the reported deal under consideration would not meet legal requirements for eliminating ByteDance’s influence over TikTok’s U.S. operations.
The TikTok logo is seen outside the Chinese video app company's Los Angeles offices on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 7, 2025
Trump says China tariff objections stalled TikTok deal
ByteDance is required to divest TikTok’s U.S. unit but the company has balked at selling a business valued in the billions.
An electronic billboard for TikTok in Times Square in New York, Jan. 24. ByteDance has an April 5 deadline to find a non-Chinese buyer for TikTok or face a U.S. ban.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 27, 2025
Trump says he may give China reduction in tariffs to get TikTok deal done
ByteDance has until April 5 to find a non-Chinese buyer for TikTok or face a U.S. ban, though the U.S. president has expressed a willingness to extend the deadline.
TikTok has complained to Australia’s government for excluding YouTube from a nationwide move to curb social media.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 5, 2025
TikTok blasts Australia for YouTube carve-out in social media ban
The Chinese-owned short-form video platform described the move as a “sweetheart deal” that’s “illogical, anti-competitive and short sighted.”
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

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One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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