tech

Rani Molla1/27/25

TikTok’s latest round of potential buyers includes Oracle and Perplexity AI

After President Trump announced that saving TikTok would require the US — it’s not clear whether he meant US companies or the government itself — to have a 50% ownership stake in a new venture, a new round of bids is flowing in for ByteDance’s short-form video app:

Oracle, which had successfully bid for TikTok during Trump’s last administration, along with other investors is discussing taking a majority stake in the company’s global operations, NPR reports. “The goal is for Oracle to effectively monitor and provide oversight with what is going on with TikTok,” said an anonymous source directly involved in the talks. “ByteDance wouldn’t completely go away, but it would minimize Chinese ownership.”
Perplexity AI has also mounted a new bid that would give the US government up to 50% ownership of a new entity that combines Perplexity and TikTok’s US business, following an initial public offering of at least $300 billion, according to the Associated Press. The deal wouldn’t include the TikTok’s vaunted recommendation algorithm and the government would not have voting power or a seat on the new company’s board.

Trump, who said he’s in talks with “many people” interested in buying TikTok, expects to have a decision in 30 days, Reuters reports.

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Ahead of Musk’s pay package vote, Tesla’s board says they can’t make him work there full time

Ahead of Tesla’s CEO compensation vote at its annual shareholder meeting tomorrow, The Wall Street Journal did a deep dive into how Elon Musk, who stands to gain $1 trillion if he stays at Tesla and hits a number of milestones, spends his time.

Like a similar piece from The New York Times in September, this one has a lot of fun details. Read it all, but here are some to tide you over:

Musk spent so much time at xAI this summer that he held meetings there with Tesla employees.
He personally oversaw the design of a sexy chatbot named Ani, who sports pigtails and skimpy clothes and for whom “employees were compelled to turn over their biometric data” to train.
The chatbot, which users can ask to “change into lingerie or fantasize about a romantic encounter with them,” has helped boost user numbers, which are still way lower than ChatGPT’s.
Executives and board members have told top investors in the past few weeks that they can’t make Musk work at Tesla full time. Board Chair Robyn Denholm explained that in his free time, Musk “likes to create companies, and they’re not necessarily Tesla companies.”

Tesla Is Obsessed With Musk’s Pay Package. Musk Is Obsessed With AI.

Tesla Is Obsessed With Musk’s Pay Package. Musk Is Obsessed With AI.

Like a similar piece from The New York Times in September, this one has a lot of fun details. Read it all, but here are some to tide you over:

Musk spent so much time at xAI this summer that he held meetings there with Tesla employees.
He personally oversaw the design of a sexy chatbot named Ani, who sports pigtails and skimpy clothes and for whom “employees were compelled to turn over their biometric data” to train.
The chatbot, which users can ask to “change into lingerie or fantasize about a romantic encounter with them,” has helped boost user numbers, which are still way lower than ChatGPT’s.
Executives and board members have told top investors in the past few weeks that they can’t make Musk work at Tesla full time. Board Chair Robyn Denholm explained that in his free time, Musk “likes to create companies, and they’re not necessarily Tesla companies.”

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Motion Picture Association to Meta: Stop saying Instagram teen content is “PG-13”

In October, Meta announced that its updated Instagram Teen Accounts would by default limit content to the “PG-13” rating.

The Motion Picture Association, which created the film rating standard, was not happy about Meta’s use of the rating, and sent the company a cease and desist letter, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

The letter from MPA’s law firm reportedly said the organization worked for decades to earn the public’s trust in the rating system, and it does not want Meta’s AI-powered content moderation failures to blow back on its work:

“Any dissatisfaction with Meta’s automated classification will inevitably cause the public to question the integrity of the MPA’s rating system.”

Meta told the WSJ that it never claimed or implied the content on Instagram Teen Accounts would be certified by the MPA.

Exclusive | Motion Picture Trade Group Pans Instagram’s Use of ‘PG-13’ With Cease and Desist

Exclusive | Motion Picture Trade Group Pans Instagram’s Use of ‘PG-13’ With Cease and Desist

The letter from MPA’s law firm reportedly said the organization worked for decades to earn the public’s trust in the rating system, and it does not want Meta’s AI-powered content moderation failures to blow back on its work:

“Any dissatisfaction with Meta’s automated classification will inevitably cause the public to question the integrity of the MPA’s rating system.”

Meta told the WSJ that it never claimed or implied the content on Instagram Teen Accounts would be certified by the MPA.

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Dan Ives expects “overwhelming shareholder approval” of Tesla CEO pay package

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, like prediction markets, thinks Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package will receive “overwhelming shareholder approval” at the company’s annual shareholder meeting Thursday afternoon. The Tesla bull, like the Tesla board, has maintained that approval of the performance-based pay package is integral to keeping Musk at the helm of the company, which in turn is integral to the success of the company. Ives is also confident that investors will back the proposal allowing Tesla to invest in another of Musk’s companies, xAI.

“We expect shareholders to show overwhelming support tomorrow for Musk and the xAI stake further turning Tesla into an AI juggernaut with the autonomous and robotics future on the horizon,” Ives wrote in a note this morning.

The compensation package has received pushback, including from Tesla’s sixth-biggest institutional investor, Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management, and from proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services.

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Tesla has a new EV, robotaxi, humanoid robot, AI chip, and flying car competitor

An electric vehicle maker is not content to merely manufacture cars, but has far greater ambitions that involve robotaxis, humanoid robots, and even flying cars.

Sound familiar? It’s not Tesla.

Rather, Nasdaq-listed Chinese EV maker XPeng announced that next year it will launch three robotaxis made with in-house AI chips and begin mass production of its humanoid robots. It’s also developing a flying car — a concept Tesla CEO Elon Musk has only hinted at.

Tesla has been facing increased competition from Chinese automakers like XPeng and BYD, though neither can sell in the US — and neither has a Musk. Still, XPeng Co-President Brian Gu seems to share some of his gumption. “We didn’t want to be a traditional automaker or EV maker from the very beginning,” Gu said. “The future of cars is not electrification, but intelligence.”

Chinese EV maker Xpeng to launch robotaxis, humanoid robots with self-developed AI chips

Chinese EV maker Xpeng to launch robotaxis, humanoid robots with self-developed AI chips

Tesla has been facing increased competition from Chinese automakers like XPeng and BYD, though neither can sell in the US — and neither has a Musk. Still, XPeng Co-President Brian Gu seems to share some of his gumption. “We didn’t want to be a traditional automaker or EV maker from the very beginning,” Gu said. “The future of cars is not electrification, but intelligence.”

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Google and “Fortnite” maker Epic agree to settlement over app store reforms

Google and “Fortnite” maker Epic Games have proposed a settlement to end their long-running app store dispute. The deal would let Android users more easily download third-party app stores and allow developers to use alternative payment methods both within apps and through external web links, with capped fees of 9% or 20%. After Epic won a 2023 jury trial, US District Judge James Donato issued an injunction ordering Google to open the Play app store to competition; the same judge must approve the new agreement.

Google proposes app store reforms in settlement with ‘Fortnite’ maker Epic Games

Google proposes app store reforms in settlement with ‘Fortnite’ maker Epic Games

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