Apple and Google have restored TikTok to their respective app stores in the U.S., nearly a month after removing the video app in response to a national security law that banned it in the country. Other ByteDance-owned applications, such as the video editor CapCut and the social network Lemon8, have also returned to the stores.
ByteDance had until Jan 19 to sell the platform to a non-Chinese-owned company, or it would be banned in the country. Following ByteDance’s appeals, the Supreme Court voted to uphold the law on Jan 17. But, just after taking office, current U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at delaying the ban, giving ByteDance a 75-day extension to find a buyer.
TikTok, which was shut down for a few hours before the deadline, quickly restored its services in the country. But Apple and Google kept the platform out of their stores. The law would have imposed severe financial penalties on app store operators if they did not comply.
Since then, Trump has suggested that the U.S. could own a 50% stake in TikTok through a joint venture with other tech companies. The president also signed an executive order to create a sovereign wealth fund, and suggested that the fund could be used to buy the platform’s U.S. operations. Oracle and Microsoft may also be considering buying the app.
Reddit plans to improve search experience, releases financial report
During its conference call on its Q4 2024 results, Reddit said it will launch an enhanced search experience in 2025 designed to help users navigate the social network and be able to answer subjective and hard questions.
The company plans to integrate Reddit Answers into its existing search. The feature allows visitors to ask questions and receive answers using an AI-powered conversational interface. Once a question is asked, summaries of relevant conversations and details appear across Reddit, including links to related communities.
“[In Reddit] conversations, for 20 years, our users have left this absolutely massive corpus of information, so we’re starting to unlock that with Answers,” Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said. “We’ll continue to iterate on this product.”
The company’s financial report shows that total revenues increased 71% year-over-year in the quarter to US$427.7 million. Meanwhile, revenue increased 62% year-on-year to $1.3 billion for the full year. Ad revenues rose 60% year-over-year to US$394.5 million in the quarter, and 50% year-over-year to US$1.2 billion for the year. Daily active users increased 39% year-over-year to 101.7 million.
Last year, the platform said it was testing a new tool that helps brands better understand their communities. Reddit Pro, a free set of tools for businesses, gives companies access to AI-powered insights, powered by more than 16 billion Reddit posts and comments, that reveal top communities, trending topics and conversations that are relevant to specific categories. The platform also began testing AI-generated summaries at the top of search results, and earlier this year launched a new ad unit in its Ask Me Anything feature, which allows subject matter experts to answer questions from app users in an informal session.
YouTube updates with new AI tool
YouTube Shorts is incorporating the latest video model created by Google’s AI laboratory DeepMind, Veo 2, to allow creators to generate AI video clips for their publications. The feature is now available for any creator in Canada, the U.S, Australia and New Zealand.
YouTube, already allowed creators to generate AI backgrounds for their Shorts with a text message through a feature called Dream Screen. But the platform has said Veo 2 will allow creators to generate standalone video clips to add to any of their Shorts.
“Veo 2 understands real-world physics and human movement better, making its output more detailed and realistic,” YouTube Director of Product Dina Berrada said in a blog post. “You can even specify a style, lens, or cinematic effect, making Dream Screen an easy and fun way to express yourself.”
To indicate that these videos were made with AI, the platform will use DeepMind’s SynthID tool, which watermarks AI-generated content. YouTube also said that these videos will be marked as AI-made.
