ByteDance

ByteDance is a Beijing-based company that operates some of the world’s most popular social media platforms, including TikTok and Douyin. Founded in 2012, the company has quickly grown into one of the largest and most innovative technology firms globally, with a focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Notable executives include founder Zhang Yiming, CEO Liang Rubo and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. ByteDance has recently faced scrutiny from governments and competitors over data privacy and national security concerns. Despite these challenges, the company remains a major player in the global technology industry, with a growing footprint in markets around the world.

Recent Articles about ByteDance

Art by Mike Sullivan.

China’s AI Giveaway War

By Juro Osawa · Feb 17, 2026 7:05am PST

U.S. AI firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic haven’t yet turned a profit but they’re trying to get on the path to doing so. In China, the big tech firms behind AI chatbots are fighting a different battle.Chinese tech firms are competing so intensely to draw people to use their AI chatbots that they’re spending this week’s Lunar New Year holidays... U.S. AI firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic haven’t yet turned a profit but they’re trying to get...

Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images

AI Is Magnifying Google and Meta’s Edge in Ads

By Martin Peers · Feb 16, 2026 3:00pm PST

We could see a brief shift away from obsessive AI talk this week. On Wednesday, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg is due to testify in the Los Angeles trial hearing a lawsuit filed by a young California woman against big tech firms, namely Google and Meta. The woman claims her social media addiction led to depression and suicidal thoughts, as ... We could see a brief shift away from obsessive AI talk this week. On Wednesday, Meta Platforms...

Art by Clark Miller.

How OpenClaw Learns New Things

By Rocket Drew · Feb 10, 2026 7:00am PST · 2 comments

The sizable gap between how AIs and humans learn new things has inspired researchers to rethink the math behind today’s AI models. But developers have found a more immediate and practical workaround to get AI to continually learn: “skills.” A skill is a text prompt containing instructions for how an agent should perform a task. For... The sizable gap between how AIs and humans learn new things has inspired researchers to rethink...

Art via Mike Sullivan/Getty Images

China’s Response To Google’s Genie; Why This OpenAI Researcher Left to Start a Competitor

By Juro Osawa · Feb 4, 2026 7:00am PST

Art via Mike Sullivan/Getty Images

China’s Response To Google’s Genie; Why This OpenAI Researcher Left to Start a Competitor

By Juro Osawa · Feb 4, 2026 7:00am PST

Google last week generated buzz with a new AI tool called Project Genie, which enables users to create and play in virtual worlds like ultra-realistic videogames. An upstart Chinese competitor that recently announced a similar product is trying to keep up with Google and capture some of that buzz.PixVerse, which a few weeks ago unveiled its “... Google last week generated buzz with a new AI tool called Project Genie, which enables users to...

Art by Getty Images

Why OpenClaw FKA Clawdbot Matters

By Rocket Drew · Feb 2, 2026 7:30am PST

If you’ve been online in the past few days, you’ve likely been bombarded with words like “Moltbook,” “OpenClaw” and “Clawdbot.” We’re here to break down what it means and how it’s giving us a peek into how AI might evolve.OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent released late last year that can write code, edit files and surf the web to complete... If you’ve been online in the past few days, you’ve likely been bombarded with words like “...

Photo by Christopher Juhn/Getty Images

ICE Says It Uses AI From Palantir, OpenAI; Meta’s Humanoid Robot Training Plan

By Erin Woo and Jyoti Mann · Jan 29, 2026 7:00am PST

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday released a new database describing its use of artificial intelligence last year, including how Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within DHS, relied on technology from Palantir and OpenAI.ICE has been a flashpoint around the country after government agents fatally shot two people... The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday released a new database describing its use...

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ByteDance, Alibaba to Launch New Models in Race for AI Supremacy in China

By Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · Jan 29, 2026 5:00am PST · 2 comments

The battle for AI dominance in China is reaching new heights. Tech giants ByteDance and Alibaba Group are both poised to release their next flagship AI models around the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February, in what could be the most consequential battle in the country’s tech sector. ByteDance is preparing to release three new AI... The battle for AI dominance in China is reaching new heights. Tech giants ByteDance and Alibaba...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Five Takeaways From ‘Data Center Davos’

By Anissa Gardizy · Jan 26, 2026 8:00am PST · 1 comment

Art by Mike Sullivan

AI Infrastructure

Five Takeaways From ‘Data Center Davos’

By Anissa Gardizy · Jan 26, 2026 8:00am PST · 1 comment

Last week, the data center industry migrated temporarily to Hawaii for the Pacific Telecommunications Council conference. The event—like Davos except warmer—is typically where deal talks in the data center business begin and the priorities for the year are set. The sector’s power brokers are coming off a wild 12 months, bookended by the... Last week, the data center industry migrated temporarily to Hawaii for the Pacific...

Art by Mike Sullivan

TikTok Plans Big Shopping Push

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Jan 21, 2026 6:04am PST

TikTok’s U.S. business may be about to take off. The scheduled completion this week of TikTok’s sale of its U.S. data security arm to a joint venture ends years of uncertainty about its future in the U.S. And the video app maker is now redoubling its efforts to build a much bigger e-commerce business in the U.S., in a new challenge to Amazon. TikTok’s U.S. business may be about to take off. The scheduled completion this week of TikTok’s...