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A TikTok ban could hurt Amazon sellers looking for alternatives

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In March The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that could force ByteDance to achieve this eliminate TikTok or face a ban from US app stores. Ma lot of the discussions and debates surrounding it centered around America data security and the fitting to speechhowever the potential move also highlights something else: TikTok is increasingly focused on e-commerce, however the interplay of tech giants and geopolitics is putting pressure on smaller sellers.

Over the past few months, buyers – many from China – have been looking out Amazon alternatives have began coming to TikTok to sell clothes, cosmetics, electronics and plenty of other products to US buyers via TikTok Shop. In interviews with TechCrunch, sellers in Shenzhen – a Chinese megacity that could be a major trading hub for Amazon sellers – said they felt a collective sense of frustration over rising geopolitical tensions and “helplessness” over a possible TikTok ban.

“The situation is not under our control,” a retailer specializing in maternity and kids’s products told TechCrunch. “It’s just hard to know how the situation will develop.” Because existing supply chains are difficult to shift, “we just have to play it by ear.” (The sellers asked to stay anonymous resulting from political sensitivity.)

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The TikTok Store officially launched in September 2023 and already serves 200,000 sellers. However, since then, no updated data has been released on what number of sellers are currently on the platform, how much products are sold there, or how much is being sold elsewhere (and where else that could be).

Tests from Jungle Scout, an information analytics provider for Amazon, nonetheless, gives some idea of ​​TikTok’s impact on e-commerce. It found that 20% of Amazon sellers, brands and corporations plan to expand to TikTok Shop this yr. Before the present political backlash, ByteDance supposedly projected that it had the potential to grow its U.S. e-commerce business tenfold this yr to $17.5 billion.

TikTok is not the only platform on the list of shops looking for more channels beyond Amazon to expand their customer base. Its growth is a component of a bigger shift we’re seeing in alternative marketplaces like Temu, attracting more attention not only from buyers but additionally from Chinese exporters and e-commerce sellers. And Amazon is there apparently I listen to itwhich is one other sign that alternative solutions are gaining popularity.

TikTok didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

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A latest approach to sell and buy

TikTok has been attempting to grow its e-commerce business since its U.S. launch last September.

The app is thought — or infamous, depending on who you consult with — for how tightly it controls what content is shared with whom. The TikTok store also has a heavy dose of curation.

Unlike Temu, known for its seas of low-cost white-label products sourced from Chinese factories and sold on to U.S. consumers, TikTok’s strategy is to advertise and highlight more branded goods, making it a more direct competitor to Amazon.

TikTok can be attempting to attract sellers with more traditional grants. According to reports, with a view to encourage sellers to sell goods at a major discount through the recent Black Friday sale, TikTok gave grants to those sellers to cut back their prices by as much as 50%.

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Incentives and algorithms aside, sellers were focused on selling through the app just because TikTok’s short-video platform generates massive engagement. According to a survey conducted by TabcutChinese performance monitoring company TikTok Shop, almost 70% of sellers reported year-over-year sales growth in the primary 11 months of 2023.

This can be borne out by consumer behavior, where influencer-recommended products proceed to grow in popularity, particularly amongst desirable younger consumers.

According to Jungle Scout, nearly 20% of consumers began searching for products on TikTok in the primary quarter of 2023, up 44% from the previous yr. While 56% of all consumers still preferred to start out their product search on Amazon, 40% of Gen Zers preferred TikTok search engine over Google.

The high concentration of young buyers will not be surprising considering that data shows that 52% of TikTok users within the U.S. are between the ages of 18-34 Pew research. TikTok has the potential to vary the best way younger generations of Americans shop online.

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In addition to counting on its momentum, TikTok revolves across the media to convey its message.

Earlier this month, business research firm Oxford Economics published a report report on TikTok’s impact on the U.S. small and medium-sized business sector It was funded by TikTok and, perhaps unsurprisingly, provided clear support for TikTok’s economic impact: it was estimated that presence on the platform (either through promoting or just marketing through accounts ) generated $14.7 billion in revenue for the 7 million U.S. small and medium-sized businesses that used it.

Amazon competition?

TikTok appears to be serious about entering e-commerce, however the situation continues to be in flux. On the one hand, the corporate – even within the face of a possible U.S. sales ban or forced sale – continues to introduce latest e-commerce features resembling latest video shopping format it was presented at a conference this month. On the opposite hand, it modifies or enforces seller policies seemingly on the fly, trying to seek out a approach to thrive in a very glaring highlight.

“The internal management of TikTok (the shop) is a bit chaotic in the mean time. It’s a brand new platform, so it hasn’t began oppressing sellers, but the principles are still changing,” said a lamp seller who has been selling on Amazon since mid-2010.

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One of those principles appears to be related to what algorithms reach to consumers. Sellers outside China say TikTok’s U.S. store has stepped up efforts in recent months to prioritize U.S. stores over foreign ones. Sellers tell TechCrunch this has led to the creation of black market “agents” — parties that intermediate transactions between foreign sellers and U.S. residents, who in turn arrange TikTok stores that appear U.S.-owned but are literally run by foreign merchants.

Retailers are wanting to hop over these hurdles to grow their user touchpoints and diversify their channels as one giant emerges after one other.

“Margins are shrinking on Amazon and competition is getting fiercer because of Temu, so TikTok gives us another option,” the lamp seller said.

To assess TikTok’s impact on Amazon, “we need to understand the entire U.S. retail market,” said Richard Xu, a partner at Starting Gate Fund, which invests in cross-border retail solutions between China and the U.S.

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E-commerce covers approx 15% in line with the US Department of Commerce, subsequently “If we’re talking about just the small share of the e-commerce sector on the Internet, there’s not much to discuss,” Xu suggested.

However, in case your TikTok Shop strategy is primarily focused on bringing offline businesses online for the primary time, this could be a really big move. “(Using) live e-commerce to enable small shops and offline stores to participate, the potential is quite significant.”

In any case, while 15% seems small, the number continues to be significant – $285.2 billion – so the potential for TikTok Shop is big, even when it only captures a small slice of the present e-commerce pie.

Juozas Kaziukenas, founding father of Marketplace Pulse, an e-commerce analytics company, doubts that TikTok will ever replace Amazon. “It does not provide a wide range of choice and fulfillment, and buyers in the West are accustomed to search engine-driven e-commerce,” he said. “But many people use TikTok for hours every day, so they sometimes make purchases on it.”

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“In the United States and other Western countries, shopping apps have developed in parallel with entertainment or connectivity apps such as social media. We are used to downloading different things from different applications rather than doing everything in one place,” he added.

“Today, social media apps like TikTok are trying to get a handle on shopping before retailers like Amazon embrace social media (e.g. through Amazon Inspire). However, the status quo of different apps serving different needs remains.”

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This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com

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Why the new Porn Law Anti-Revenge disturbs experts on freedom

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Proponents of privacy and digital rights increase the alarms over the law, which many would expect to support: federal repression of pornography of revenge and deep cabinets generated by AI.

The newly signed Act on Take IT Down implies that the publishing of unjustified clear photos-vigorous or generated AI-I gives platforms only 48 hours to follow the request to remove the victim or face responsibility. Although widely praised as an extended win for victims, experts also warned their unclear language, loose standards for verification of claims, and a decent compatibility window can pave the way for excessive implementation, censorship of justified content and even supervision.

“Large -scale model moderation is very problematic and always ends with an important and necessary assessment speech,” said India McKinney, Federal Director at Electronic Frontier Foundation, a corporation of digital rights.

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Internet platforms have one 12 months to determine a means of removing senseless intimate images (NCII). Although the law requires that the request to be removed comes from victims or their representatives, he only asks for a physical or electronic signature – no photo identifier or other type of verification is required. This might be geared toward reducing barriers for victims, but it could possibly create the possibility of abuse.

“I really want to be wrong in this, but I think there will be more requests to take photos of Queer and trance people in relationships, and even more, I think it will be consensual porn,” said McKinney.

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), a co-person of the Take IT Down Act, also sponsored the Safety Act for youngsters, which puts a burden on platforms to guard children from harmful online content. Blackburn said he believed Content related to transgender individuals It is harmful to children. Similarly, the Heritage Foundation – conservative Think Tank behind the 2025 project – also has he said that “keeping the content away from children protects children.”

Due to the responsibility with which they encounter platforms, in the event that they don’t take off the image inside 48 hours of receiving the request: “By default it will be that they simply take it off without conducting an investigation to see if it is NCII or whether it is another type of protected speech, or whether it is even important for the person who submits the application,” said McKinney.

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Snapchat and Meta said that they support the law, but none of them answered TechCrunch’s request for more information on how they’d check if the person asking for removal is a victim.

Mastodon, a decentralized platform, which hosts his own flagship server, to which others can join, told Techcrunch that he could be inclined to remove if he was too difficult to confirm the victim.

Mastodon and other decentralized platforms, comparable to blues or pixfed, could be particularly exposed to the cold of the 48-hour removal rule. These networks are based on independently supported servers, often run by non -profit organizations or natural individuals. Under the law, FTC may treat any platform that is just not “reasonably consistent” with demands of removal as “unfair or deceptive action or practice” – even when the host is just not a business subject.

“It’s disturbing on his face, but especially when he took the FTC chair unprecedented Steps to politicize The agency and clearly promised to make use of the agency’s power to punish platforms and services on ideologicalIn contrast to the rules, the basics, “cyberspace initiative, a non -profit organization dedicated to the end of pornography of revenge, she said in statement.

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Proactive monitoring

McKinney predicts that the platforms will start moderating content before distribution, so in the future they’ve fewer problematic posts.

Platforms already use artificial intelligence to observe harmful content.

Kevin Guo, general director and co -founder of the content detection startup, said that his company cooperates with web platforms to detect deep materials and sexual materials of kids (CSAM). Some of the Hive clients are Reddit, Giphy, Vevo, BlueSky and Bereal.

“In fact, we were one of the technology companies that supported this bill,” said Guo Techcrunch. “This will help solve some quite important problems and force these platforms to take more proactive solutions.”

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The HIVE model is software as a service, so starting doesn’t control how the platforms use their product to flag or delete content. But Guo said that many shoppers insert the API Hive interface when sent to monitoring before anything is distributed to the community.

Reddit spokesman told Techcrunch that the platform uses “sophisticated internal tools, processes and teams for solving and removal”. Reddit also cooperates with the NON -SWGFL organization in an effort to implement the Stopncia tool, which scans live traffic seeking matches with a database of known NCII and removes accurate fittings. The company didn’t share how it is going to be sure that the person asking for removal is a victim.

McKinney warns that this kind of monitoring can expand to encrypted messages in the future. Although the law focuses on public or semi -public dissemination, it also requires the platforms “removing and making reasonable efforts to prevent” senseless intimate images from re -translating. He claims that this will likely encourage proactive scanning of all content, even in encrypted spaces. The law doesn’t contain any sculptors for encrypted services of encrypted messages, comparable to WhatsApp, Signal or IMessage.

Meta, Signal and Apple didn’t answer TechCrunch for more details about their plans for encrypted messages.

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Wider implications of freedom of speech

On March 4, Trump provided a joint address to the congress, wherein he praised the Take It Down act and said he couldn’t wait to sign it.

“And I also intend to use this bill for myself if you don’t mind,” he added. “There is nobody who is treated worse than I do online.”

While the audience laughed at the comment, not everyone considered it a joke. Trump was not ashamed of suppressing or retarding against unfavorable speech, no matter whether it’s the mainstream marking “enemies of individualsExcept for Associated Press from the oval office despite the court order or Financing from NPR and PBS.

Trump administration on Thursday Barred Harvard University From the reception of foreign students, the escalation of the conflict, which began after Harvard refused to follow Trump’s demands to make changes to his curriculum and eliminate, amongst others, content related to Dei. In retaliation, Trump froze federal funds at Harvard and threatened to repeal the status of the tax exemption from the university.

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“At a time when we see that school councils are trying to prohibit books and see that some politicians very clearly deal with the types of content that people do not want to ever see, regardless of whether it is a critical theory of breed, or information about abortion or information about climate change …” McKinney said.

(Tagstotransate) Censorship

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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PO clarous Director General Zoom also uses AI avatar during a quarterly connection

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Zoom CEO Eric Yuan

General directors at the moment are so immersed in artificial intelligence that they send their avatars to cope with quarterly connections from earnings as a substitute, a minimum of partly.

After AI Avatar CEO CEO appeared on the investor’s conversation firstly of this week, the final director of Zoom Eric Yuan also followed them, also Using his avatar for preliminary comments. Yuan implemented his non -standard avatar via Zoom Clips, an asynchronous company video tool.

“I am proud that I am one of the first general directors who used the avatar in a call for earnings,” he said – or fairly his avatar. “This is just one example of how Zoom shifts the limits of communication and cooperation. At the same time, we know that trust and security are necessary. We take seriously the content generated AI and build strong security to prevent improper use, protect the user’s identity and ensure that avatars are used responsibly.”

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Yuan has long been in favor of using avatars at meetings and previously said that the corporate goals to create Digital user twins. He just isn’t alone on this vision; The CEO of transcript -powered AI, apparently, trains its own avatar Share the load.

Meanwhile, Zoom said he was doing it Avatar non -standard function available To all users this week.

(Tagstranslat) meetings AI

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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The next large Openai plant will not be worn: Report

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Sam Altman speaks onstage during The New York Times Dealbook Summit 2024.

Opeli pushed generative artificial intelligence into public consciousness. Now it might probably develop a very different variety of AI device.

According to WSJ reportThe general director of Opeli, Altman himself, told employees on Wednesday that one other large product of the corporate would not be worn. Instead, it will be compact, without the screen of the device, fully aware of the user’s environment. Small enough to sit down on the desk or slot in your pocket, Altman described it each as a “third device” next to MacBook Pro and iPhone, in addition to “Comrade AI” integrated with on a regular basis life.

The preview took place after the OpenAI announced that he was purchased by IO, a startup founded last 12 months by the previous Apple Joni Ive designer, in a capital agreement value $ 6.5 billion. I will take a key creative and design role at Openai.

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Altman reportedly told employees that the acquisition can ultimately add 1 trillion USD to the corporate conveyorsWearing devices or glasses that got other outfits.

Altman reportedly also emphasized to the staff that the key would be crucial to stop the copying of competitors before starting. As it seems, the recording of his comments leaked to the journal, asking questions on how much he can trust his team and the way rather more he will be able to reveal.

(Tagstotransate) devices

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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