A Win-Win Situation

The Guangzhou WeRide Uber partnership is a win-win for the two companies. This is the first time that WeRide is collaborating with a global ride-hailing company, The Uber partnership will enable WeRide to expand its operations beyond the Chinese borders.

For Uber, the partnership presents an opportunity to incorporate more robotaxis into its platform. Uber has collaborated with several autonomous vehicle companies lately as it seeks to maintain its lead in the ride-hailing space.

Earlier this month, the ride-hailing company partnered with Waymo to onboard its robotaxis in Atlanta and Austin in the US. In August this year, Uber partnered with Cruise, the robotaxi unit at General Motors. Cruise robotaxis will operate through Uber’s autonomous vehicle platform from 2025.

Uber also announced a deal with Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, BYD. The Uber BYD deal will see Uber add 100,000 Chinese-manufactured electric cars to its fleet of cars globally. Uber is currently working with UK-based autonomous vehicle company, Wayve. Uber made a strategic investment into Wayve to facilitate further development of its AI-powered self-driving technology.

UAE Entry

The collaboration between Uber and WeRide is set to commence in Abu Dhabi later this year. This means that when passengers request rides on the Uber app, they may be given the option of picking an Uber Chinese robotaxi in the UAE.

WeRide secured a national license for autonomous vehicles in the UAE in July this year. The Middle East has become the go-to market for many Chinese autonomous vehicle companies due to its friendly regulatory environment and funding.

With its first and only national license for self-driving vehicles, the Chinese company can test and operate robotaxis on public roads across the UAE.

The Regulation Challenge

WeRide has made attempts to list its shares in the US with a $5 billion valuation. However, this is yet to happen as its initial public offering was delayed. The company said it was completing the necessary documentation to proceed with the listing.

Regulation continues to pose a challenge to the entry of Chinese autonomous vehicles technology into the US market. On September 23, the Biden administration proposed new requirements that prohibit Chinese auto manufacturers from testing their autonomous vehicles on US roads. This includes vehicle hardware and software produced by US foreign adversaries like Russia.

Outside the US, Uber is contending with data protection challenges. Last month, the ride-hailing platform was slapped with a $324 million fine in the Netherlands. Dutch regulators fined the company after it established that Uber had been sending sensitive personal data belonging to Dutch drivers to the US without their consent. This violates the EU data protection laws.

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According to Marketing Drive, Amazon’s video generator serves as an affordable top-of-funnel channel for small and medium-sized businesses.

Video Generation Process

Amazon says that marketers on the Sponsored Brands platform have to submit product pages to access the video generator. Once the page is submitted, marketers have to select the AI-generated video option on the drop-down menu.

The tool generates and displays several video options for marketers to choose and edit based on their needs. Amazon showcased the video generator at work during the Accelerate Event.
Using a pre-recorded demo, the e-commerce company displayed a lavender-scented lotion image being placed in the video generator.

The tool generated ads with sprawling flower fields and text to highlight the qualities of the product was added to the video. Amazon said that availability of video generator tools is restricted at this time. Its live image capabilities are also limited. However, the company is committed to fine-tuning the AI technology using user feedback.

Journey to Generative AI

Amazon’s journey to develop generative AI solutions for advertisers started last fall when it unveiled its AI image generator. The tool was used by Appliance manufacturer, Whirlpool in its holiday marketing campaign in 2023. The company reported significant results from the campaign, including over 2 million impressions and a 2% click-through rate.

By extending the idea to video generation, Amazon is looking to maximize advertising spend for businesses by boosting their top-of-funnel results. Big tech companies like Meta, have also entered the generative AI space in recent years. On September 23, Google Ads rolled out a video enhancement feature to boost video ad performance even as its advertising technology remains the focus of its ongoing antitrust trial.

With its new AI-powered video generator, Amazon is looking to boost revenue performance for its ad segment. In its quarter two results, the e-commerce reported a 20% revenue growth in this segment but still fell below Wall Street’s estimates.

A Tested Solution

The video generator produces fairly basic videos using available product images. However, Amazon anticipates that the single click aspect that leverages the Sponsored Brands platform and comes at no cost will attract businesses.

French skincare company, Gellé Frères has been testing the new solution as part of its Amazon AI powered holiday marketing campaign. A spokesperson from the company has termed Amazon’s AI-powered video generator as effective in reducing the time that businesses spend producing video ads.

The company also said that the new tool has paved the way for it to advertise more of its products.

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Earlier this month, Kaspersky announced plans to migrate its customers to Pango Group, an American cybersecurity firm that owns the UltraAV software. The move was meant to facilitate smooth continuation of current subscriptions as Kaspersky updates terminate this month.

Panic Waves

TechCrunch reported that social media messages posted by Kaspersky users showed that these updates had been made without prior warning or permission.

“I was using Kaspersky, didn’t realize they’d be shuffling us off to some Pango AV in September. Nearly had a heart attack when I started my pc today and found a program I didn’t download,” one user posted on Reddit.

Another user posted on the Kaspersky support forum saying, “UltraAV automatically installing itself on my PC freaked me out. It still required me to login with my Kaspersky password/account, but no thanks. I have no idea who Pango is, and there is literally no information about their antivirus/credibility.”

Pango Group claimed that Kaspersky users had been informed about the Kaspersky UltraAV software update through an email notification at the start of this month. However, users argued that this form of communication can be unreliable.

Resellers too were disappointed by the Kaspersky antivirus forced updates, particularly the move to replace the antivirus with an entirely different one. A former US government cybersecurity expert termed the move a huge risk.

US Ban

The migration of Kaspersky customers to UltraAV was triggered by the US government ban of the antivirus company. In June this year, the US Department of Commerce banned the Russian firm from marketing and selling its products within the US starting July 20. The government cited increased privacy and security risks that pose a threat to national security as the reason for the ban.

Following the ban, Kaspersky’s security updates to customers were limited; no updates will be allowed after September 29. An exclusive post published on Axios states that newly established cybersecurity firm Pango was acquiring Kaspersky’s US clients.

On September 21, Kaspersky confirmed the shift to UltraAV on its official forum.

“Kaspersky has additionally partnered with UltraAV to make the transition to their product as seamless as possible, which is why on 9/19, U.S. Kaspersky antivirus customers received a software update facilitating the transition to UltraAV. This update ensured that users would not experience a gap in protection upon Kaspersky’s exit from the market,” a Kaspersky employee wrote.

The Responsibility Question

As customers come to terms with Kaspersky UltraAV updates, many customers wonder who’s at fault abound.

“I’m annoyed at Kaspersky. Basically, on my computers, Kaspersky pushed an uninstall of the Kaspersky products and pushed an automatic install of UltraAV and UltraVPN onto my computers. They should’ve given me the option to accept UltraAV or not. They should never push software onto someone’s computer without explicit permission,” Kaspersky customer Avi Fleischer said.

Although Kapersky said the intention was to give its customers a seamless transition, most users feel the process was not handled well.

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In recent days, bidders have been circling Intel after the company registered disastrous financial results in quarter two of this year. Intel reported a $1.6 billion loss in this quarter and announced 15,000 layoffs in the company as part of a strategy to save $10 billion.

Intel’s Struggle

Since the beginning of this year, Intel shares price has dropped by close to 60%. Apollo’s investment in Intel will most likely be in the form of equity.

Last week, the company announced that it was spinning off its processor manufacturing unit, Intel Foundry. Intel made the announcement soon after the unit signed a deal to make Intel AI chips for Amazon Web Services. The announcement gave the company a vote of confidence, causing Intel share prices to rise by 8% following this announcement.

The tech giant also said it was halting construction of two chip factories in Poland and Germany.

Apollo’s Investment in Intel

Intel and Apollo have an ongoing working relationship. Apollo holds a 49% stake in Intel’s Fab 34 factory in Ireland after it invested $11 billion to finance its construction.

Apollo’s attention was captured by Intel’s current financial position. Bloomberg reported that people who are familiar with the discussions between the two firms said Apollo offered $5 Billion to Intel towards the end of last week. Intel executives have been considering Apollo’s offer. However, discussions about the deal are still in preliminary stages.

There is a possibility that the size of Apollo’s investment in Intel may change and that discussions about a deal may fail to materialize. None of the companies has commented about the deal.

Qualcomm’s Interest

Intel’s rival chip manufacturer Qualcomm has been eying Intel for a takeover. The company approached Intel to discuss a possible takeover on Friday, September 20. Though Qualcomm is yet to place a formal bid, its CEO, Cristiano Amon is leading the negotiations.

Qualcomm was previously interested in buying off Intel’s design business. But now it’s going for the entire company. Qualcomm is a fabless chip manufacturer that’s focused on the mobile space. Acquiring Intel would give it manufacturing capabilities and provide it with a pathway into the data center chip market. At the moment, Qualcomm manufactures its devices at TSMC in Taiwan.

Intel and Qualcomm have been caught up in stiff competition in the manufacturing of PC chips. Early this month, Qualcomm unveiled a new AI-powered PC processor. In a bid to overturn Intel’s dominance in the PC processor market.

Intel currently holds huge government contracts. Last week, the company announced that it had signed up to build chips for the US Defence Department worth $3 billion. Intel entered into a preliminary non-binding agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce in March of this year. This agreement paves the way for the company to receive $8.5 billion in direct funding under the Chips and Science Act.

The post Apollo Global to Invest in Intel If New Deal Succeeds appeared first on Tech Research Online.

Freelancer Stability

Jump gives full-time contracts to freelancers who want stability and desire to reap the benefits that full-time jobs offer. Once they sign up with Jump, freelancers can bill clients through the platform at the end of every month.

The company functions as an administrative platform while maintaining the independence of contracts. It allows users to generate payslips and receive a salary. This feature empowers freelancers to define the pay that works for them throughout the year, even during slow months.

Contractors who use the platform are free to work for multiple customers and negotiate contracts directly.

Healthcare and Pension

Jump freelancer benefits include registration of freelancers with the national healthcare system. The permanent contract that contractors receive enables them to contribute to the national pension scheme. The platform also offers users health insurance contractors, meal vouchers, and employee savings schemes.

Another important Jump employee benefit that freelancers get is a mortgage. Permanent contracts are particularly useful when buying a home and negotiating mortgages with banks in France. To use Jump, freelancers have to pay €99 each month. Corporate contributions are deducted directly from the user’s earnings. To date, 2,000 freelancers use the French startup Jump.

Newbie Offer

Jump recently announced a free offer for contractors who are starting their freelancing career. The newbie offer includes a free bank account with a virtual debit card that’s linked to Google Pay or Apple Pay.

The offer also comes with several software features that enable freelancers to bill their first clients. These features include a dashboard for tracking financial performance and an in-built invoice generator.

“It’s pretty much in line with how freelancers work. They often get started with the basic French freelancer status, and then switch to another status when they begin to feel the limits of their freelancing status and they have enough revenue,” Jump’s Co-founder and CEO, Nicolas Fayon said.

Future Outlook

Moving forward, Jump is looking to support a wide range of independent contractors. Currently, the platform serves data engineers, software developers, sports coaches, project managers, and creative consultants. The French startup also plans to expand to other countries in the future, including the UK.

Like Workday and TalentQuest that leverage technology to streamline human resource functions for businesses, Jump makes it easier for freelancers to manage clients. Last month, Salesforce and Workday announced plans to launch an AI-powered service agent to automate routine tasks, offer data-driven insights, and provide personalized support to users. TalentQuest on the other hand developed an Analytic Solution that helps businesses revolutionize the way they use data to attract and retain employees.

The post Jump Raises Millions in Funding to Support Freelance Contractors appeared first on Tech Research Online.

On September 19, CNBC reported that a beta version of Amelia is only accessible to select US sellers via Amazon’s internal dashboard, Seller Central. The e-commerce giant plans to make it available to all sellers later this year.

AI Solutions

Amazon has launched multiple AI products in recent years. The e-commerce giant has previously introduced an AI shopping assistant called Rufus, a chatbot called dubbed Q, and a generative AI service called Bedrock. Amazon is planning to upgrade its voice assistant, Alexa with generative AI.

Amazon described the new AI tool as an all-in-one selling expert. Amelia is the latest generative AI tool that the e-commerce giant has launched this year as it works to capitalize the ChatGPT hype.

In April this year, Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy said generative AI presents an unprecedented opportunity and that capital is required to leverage it. Amazon has already invested billions of orders in OpenAI’s rival, Anthropic.

Focus on Third-Party Sellers

Third-party sellers form the backbone of Amazon’s e-commerce business. Since 2017, these sellers have accounted for 50% of products that are sold on the website. This number hit the 61% mark in quarter two of this year.

The prevalence of AI on Amazon’s e-commerce website is mostly geared to help third-party sellers grow their businesses. Visitors are now interacting with AI-generated product reviews on the e-commerce platform. The company has also introduced AI features to help third-party sellers generate ad photos and craft product listings.

On September 19, the e-commerce giant said it will be introducing tools that allow sellers to produce bulk AI-generated video ads and listings based on their product catalogs.

During the annual sellers conference, Amazon announced that it already started using AI to personalize product listings and recommendations based on customer shopping history.

According to Dharmesh Mehta, VP of Worldwide Selling Partner Services at Amazon, the number of Amazon sellers who use AI tools is increasing. Over 400K of Amazon sellers have already used it’s AI product listing tool.

Solving the Troubleshooting Challenge

With its new AI-based selling assistant tool, Amazon is looking to address the account troubleshooting challenge for third-party sellers. Currently, the company relies on large seller support teams to resolve inventory and account suspension issues for sellers.

Merchants have been complaining about delays they experience in getting their issues resolved or reaching customer service agents. The company says, Amelia can investigate account issues. In future, the Amazon AI tool will be able to fix problems on behalf of the seller. Instead of filing a missing inventory form, sellers will be able to ask Amelia to file the claim or get the tool to automatically resolve the issue.

“There are going to be places where, hey, instead of chatting with seller support or getting on the phone with someone, maybe Amelia is able to do that and do that faster. I don’t need to send an email to someone and wait for a response,” Mehta said.

According to Amazon, the AI selling assistant is built on Bedrock, a software that allows users to access the company’s large language models as well as those that belong to other AI companies including Anthropic and Stability.

The post Amazon Introduces Project Amelia to Support Third-Party Merchants appeared first on Tech Research Online.

Reuters reported that the deal to produce custom AI chips for Amazon was signed by Intel’s foundry business, giving the chip manufacturer a vote of confidence.

A Struggling Unit

Intel’s decision to make custom artificial intelligence chips for AWS through its foundry business has been viewed as an attempt to reinvigorate the struggling unit that is set to become Intel’s subsidiary.

In a memo sent to employees, Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger said, “A subsidiary structure will unlock important benefits. It provides our external foundry customers and suppliers with clearer separation and independence from the rest of Intel. Importantly, it also gives us future flexibility to evaluate independent sources of funding and optimize the capital structure of each business to maximize growth and shareholder value creation.”

Gelsinger’s memo also indicated that Intel will design and manufacture the AI chips for Amazon.

AI Fabric Chip

Amazon already designs chips for its data centers through its AWS cloud computing division. In July this year, the company unveiled its non-AI Graviton4 chip that the e-commerce giant said offers superior efficiency, performance, memory, and higher computing power.

Previously, Amazon has hired Intel to package its chip versions. Under the new contract, Intel will design an artificial intelligence fabric chip for AWS using the 18A process. This will be the most advanced AI chip version that AWS will make available to its external customers. Intel expects to create additional designs from Amazon on its upcoming 18AP and 14A manufacturing process.

Staying Afloat

The memo sent by Gelsinger outlined the steps that Intel will take to revive itself, including cost cutting measures. Some of the measures highlighted in the memo included voluntary early retirement offerings to reduce its workforce to about 15,000 employees by the end of 2024.

The CEO said the company will still be making difficult decisions and that affected employees will be informed in mid October. Last month, the tech giant reported a dip in its quarter two earnings.

“The board and I agreed that we have a lot of work ahead to drive greater efficiency, improve our profitability, and enhance our market competitiveness,” Gelsinger said in the memo.

One of the steps that the Intel board has decided to take is selling the company’s stake in Altera, a programmable chip business the company owns. Intel will also pause its chip factory construction project in Germany for about two years and halt the Poland project as well.

In March this year, Intel signed a preliminary non-binding agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce. Under this agreement, Intel expects to receive direct funding amounting up to $8.5 billion under the Chips and Science Act. This funding will enable the chip maker to advance its commercial semiconductor projects across four states.

Intel had announced plans to invest over $100 billion to expand its US chip making capabilities and capacity, which are critical to national security, economic security, and acceleration of emerging technologies like AI. Collectively, Intel’s investments are expected to generate tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

The post Intel’s Foundry Unit to Make Intel AI Chip for Amazon appeared first on Tech Research Online.

Google’s win in the EU antitrust fight comes when the tech giant is undergoing an antitrust trial in the US.

According to CNBC, the fine imposed on Google by the European Commission was a result of a 2019 case where Google was accused of abusing its market dominance through its product, AdSense for Search. Website owners use AdSense for Search to place ads on their web pages. The product allows users to optimize their websites for Google searches and ads to generate more revenue.

Restrictive Clauses

Google argued that it is an intermediary that lets advertisers place search ads on third-party websites.

The Commission had accused the search giant of abusing market dominance by imposing several clauses in its contracts with third-party websites. These clauses kept Google’s competitors from placing search ads on third-party websites.

The Commission fined Google $1.7 billion based on these claims, and the search giant filed an appeal against this ruling at the EU General Court.

Court Reasoning

On Wednesday, September 18, the EU General Court said that it upheld most of the findings that formed the basis of the ruling by the Commission. However, the court annulled the decision to impose the $1.7 billion fine on Google saying the Commission’s decision did not consider all relevant circumstances in assessing the contract clauses that it claimed were abusive.

“The Commission has also not demonstrated that the clauses in question had, first, possibly deterred innovation, next, helped Google to maintain and strengthen its dominant position on the national markets for online search advertising at issue and, last, that they had possibly harmed consumers,” Judges said.

Google expressed satisfaction with the ruling issued by EU’s second-highest court and said it will review it fully.

“This case concerns a very narrow subset of text-only search ads placed on a limited number of publishers’ websites. We made changes to our contracts in 2016 to remove the relevant provisions, even before the Commission’s decision. We are pleased that the court has recognized errors in the original decision and annulled the fine,” Google’s spokesperson said.

Possible Appeal

The EU Commission may decide to appeal the court’s ruling at the European Court of Justice. Several cases involving big tech companies in Europe and in the U.S. have concluded.

On September 10, Europe’s highest court upheld the $2.65 billion fine that the EU Commission imposed on Google for favoring its shopping comparison service. Review website Yelp has also sued Google over illegal monopoly in local search. Google’s ad technology is on the spot in an antitrust trial that commenced on September 9 in the US.

Last month, the tech giant faced a huge setback after a US court ruled that it is an illegal monopoly.

The post Relief as Google Wins EU Antitrust Fight Over Ads appeared first on Tech Research Online.

According to Reuters, the new US regulator bank rules will require banks to reinforce recordkeeping for accounts that fintech companies hold on behalf of customers.

Custodial Accounts

In a statement posted on the FDIC website, the US regulator noted that banks hold customer funds in individual deposit accounts. Fintech companies- which are typically non-bank firms, don’t place funds belonging to their customers in individual accounts within banks. Instead, all customer funds are lumped up together in a one custodial account in a bank.

Often, custodial accounts hold funds belonging to thousands of fintech customers. This means that banks that host such accounts for fintechs may not necessarily know the individual owners of the funds held in the custodial accounts.

The new FDIC proposal for banks seeks to change this situation. Under the proposed rules, FDIC-insured banks will be required to maintain accurate records of individual owners of funds held in custodial accounts. Additionally, such banks will be expected to reconcile accounts for each individual owner each day.

Safeguarding Customer Funds

FDIC’s bank proposal comes months after Synapse Financial Technologies collapsed early this year. Synapse was a bank-fintech middleman whose collapse led to the freezing of numerous accounts. Through the new rules, the banking regulator will ensure that customers can access their funds in a timely manner, even in situations where there is a failure on the part of the bank.

“The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking approved by the FDIC Board today is an important step to ensure that banks know the actual owner of deposits placed in a bank by a third party such as Synapse, whether the deposit has actually been placed in the banks, and that the banks are able to provide the depositor their funds even if the third party fails,” FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg said.

Under the new US regulator strengthened rules third parties such as Synapse will have to maintain beneficiary records for as long as they meet specific requirements. These requirements include banks maintaining open access to beneficiary records even in the event of insolvency or bankruptcy.

Synapse filed a bankruptcy application in April 2024. Accounts belonging to thousands of customers from partner banks were frozen. One of its partner banks, Evolve Bank & Trust, was providing banking services like deposit accounts to fintech firms.

Bank Merger Regulation

The US banking regulator is planning to introduce a new policy to tighten scrutiny of bank mergers that combine banks with assets that are valued at over $100 million. The new policy will underscore the need to maintain stability in the banking sector. The policy is set to update FDIC’s merger guidelines that have been in existence for the last 16 years.

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According to CNBC, the FDA approved Apple sleep apnea feature is one of Apple’s moves to position its wearable products as simple and cheaper alternatives to existing healthcare devices.

Diagnosis Challenge

Sleep apnea affects about 30 million people across the US. However, statistics from the American Medical Association show that only 6 million of those affected have been diagnosed with the condition.

To get a diagnosis, sleep apnea patients must take home or in-lab tests that require overnight monitoring to get a diagnosis. A 2022 study showed that the average cost of an in-lab test is about $3,000. Although at-home tests may be less costly, patients would still part with hundreds of dollars.

Apple’s Series 10 Watch makes it easier for patients who have not been tested to identify signs of sleep apnea.

“We are so excited about the incredible impact this feature can make for the millions of people living with undiagnosed sleep apnea,” Apple’s VP of Health, Dr. Sumbul Desai said.

The FDA approved Apple sleep track feature will particularly be useful to patients who stay alone. Sleep apnea causes breathing to stop and start repeatedly throughout the night. When left untreated, the sleep disorder can cause fatigue and other health complications like hypertension, heart problems, and Type 2 diabetes.

Apple’s Sleep Apnea Data

Doctors say that data from Apple Watch Series 10 should be treated with caution. According to Missouri-based physician, Dr. David Kuhlmann, insurance companies are less likely to pay for sleep apnea therapies such as CPAP based on data from FDA approved Apple’s sleep apnea detection feature.

Apple Watch Series 10 users will have to get official diagnosis from healthcare providers to access therapy. This will increase the number of patients who visit healthcare providers. The visits will help to reduce the overall cost of healthcare in the US as early detection of the condition can prevent the costly treatment associated with serious conditions.

“By finding out that they have these underlying sleep disorders and getting them treated, it could potentially actually help save expenses and help improve quality of life,” Kuhlmann said.

Apple’s New Products

Apple Watch Series 10 is among the new Apple Intelligence products the tech giant launched last week. Designed to support user health, the new Watch lineup will be available starting Friday, September 20.

“Around the world, Apple Watch has had an immeasurable positive impact on people by helping them stay healthy, active, safe, and connected to the things that matter to them, and it’s helped save countless lives along the way,” Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Williams said.

Apple’s sleep apnea detection feature analyzes breathing during sleep and uses an accelerometer to identify disturbances. The accelerometer measures wrist movements that point to disruptions to normal breathing patterns. Apple Watches generate metrics that classify breathing as either elevated or not elevated.

Users can access their metrics on the Health app. The devices analyze breathing disturbance data once each month and notify users of consistent signs of moderate or severe sleep apnea. Apple used extensive data on clinical-grade sleep apnea tests to develop the notification algorithm used in its Watch Series 10.

The post The FDA Approved Apple’s Sleep Apnea Detection Feature appeared first on Tech Research Online.

Thrive is aimed at flagging harmful content on self-harm or suicide and keeping it from spreading on social media platforms.

Sharing Signals

Through the Mental Health Coalition partnership, Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat will share signals about violations of self-harm content with each other. This will enable the platforms to investigate and take action where the same or similar content is posted on their applications.

In a blog posted on its website, Meta acknowledged that self-harm content isn’t limited to its platforms only. Meta’s spokesperson described Thrive Mental health program as a database that’s accessible to all participating companies. Meta said that any self-harm content found on social media will be removed and flagged in the database so that other companies can take action.

“We’re prioritizing this content because of its propensity to spread across different platforms quickly. These initial signals represent content only, and will not include identifiable information about any accounts or individuals,” Meta Global Head of Safety, Antigone Davis wrote in the post.

The social media giant said it will be using its technology, alongside the Lantern program to share harmful data securely on the Thrive platform. Lantern program is a Tech Coalition platform designed to make technology safe for children. It includes tech giants like Google, Apple, OpenAI, and Discord.

Legal Actions

For a long time, Snapchat, Meta, TikTok, and other social media platforms have been criticized for not taking sufficient action to moderate the content that teens consume online. This includes images and videos of self-harm.

Previously, parents and communities have taken legal action against the three platforms that are now partnering under the Thrive Mental Wellbeing program for allowing content that led to suicides. In 2021, internal research that leaked to the public revealed that Meta knew its Instagram platform could have harmful impacts on teenage girls.

Studies have suggested that teens who self-harm are active on social media. They have also shown that increased use of social media by minors has led to increased suicidal ideation and depression among those groups.

A Welcome Move

Meta’s mental health initiative has been welcomed by tech safety advocates. Acknowledging the good intentions of Thrive, technology watchdogs say the program appears to be a safety measure that companies take when they’re pressured by advocates and lawmakers.

“We are glad to see these companies working together to remove the types of content associated with self-harm and suicide. Without proper regulatory guardrails, the jury is out on whether this will have a significant impact on the harms that kids and teens are facing online,” Chief Advocacy Officer at Common Sense Media, Daniel Weiss said.

Earlier this year, Meta announced that it would be removing and limiting sensitive and inappropriate content from teenagers’ feeds. The social media giant also said it was planning to hide terms and search results relating to eating disorders, suicide, and self-harm from all users.

On Thursday, September 12, Meta reported that it pulled down 12 million content pieces featuring self-harm and suicide from Instagram and Facebook between April and June 2024. The company hopes that Thrive will help keep graphic content off the three social platforms that are participating in the programs.

The post Meta’s Thrive Mental Health Initiative to Fight Self-Harm Content appeared first on Tech Research Online.

The new law requires the video streaming platform to spin off from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, by January 2025 or face a ban. The US government views ByteDance’s ties to China as a national security threat. However, ByteDance and TikTok have denied links to Chinese authorities multiple times.

Court Arguments

TikTok’s legal battle in the US started back in May 2024 when the social media platform filed a case to block the new law. At the time, the video streaming platform had termed the legislation unconstitutional.

TikTok argued that the new law would significantly impact freedom of speech for its 170 million US users. TikTok’s court case was heard by three court of appeals judges in Washington DC.

“This law imposes extraordinary speech prohibition based on indeterminate future risks,” Andrew Pincus, TikTok and ByteDance’s attorney said in court.

In his submission, the lawyer addressed concerns by the US government about Chinese authorities. He said ByteDance Limited is a Cayman Island holding firm and is not owned by China.

The judges challenged the submissions by Pincus, with Judge Sri Srinivasan saying that ByteDance was subject to China’s control. The lawyer argued that the US government had not alleged any wrongdoing on TikTok’s part and that the social media platform was being punished based on suggestions that issues may arise in the future.

Judge Ginsberg challenged this claim, arguing that the law targets all firms that are controlled by foreign adversaries, not just TikTok. The Judge also termed the law as an ‘absolute bar on the current arrangement of control’ of the firm, not the firm itself.

Impact of TikTok Split

TikTok has consistently denied sharing data from US users with Chinese authorities. The social media platform claimed that a breakup from ByteDance cannot happen without its closure. In court documents filed in June 2024, TikTok argued that a split would make it a shell.

TikTok’s Appeal Against US Divest or Ban Law Commences

The breakup will also mean that Americans can no longer share their views with TikTok’s global community. Free speech advocates have added their voice to the US divest-or-ban law. The advocates say if the law is implemented, it will set a precedent to oppressive regimes across the world and lead to violation of free speech rights.

“We shouldn’t be surprised if repressive governments the world over cite this precedent to justify new restrictions on their own citizens’ right to access information, ideas, and media from abroad,” Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute staffer, Xiangnong Wang said.

The Institute has filed legal documents with the appeals court offering expertise with the aim of influencing the outcome of the TikTok appeal case. Wang accused lawmakers of being vague with respect to national security threats they claim TikTok poses to the US.

Digital content creators also argued that the law impedes their right to work with publishers of their choice.

Government’s Position

The Department of Justice will be arguing its case against TikTok. DoJ’s submissions will largely be based on data concerns. US lawmakers and government officials have raised alarm over possibilities that Chinese authorities could be using TikTok to spread misinformation to Americans.

In addition to the US, the UK government has also raised concerns over potential Chinese influence on TikTok. The UK has banned TikTok on government devices for fear of Chinese influence.

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