​ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, recently established a separate American entity to run the app’s U.S. operations. This restructuring aims to separate U.S. TikTok from its Chinese parent, addressing concerns about data privacy and foreign control. The move came after years of pressure from lawmakers, who feared the Chinese government’s potential access to Americans’ data. In 2024, Congress enacted a law, mandating that TikTok’s U.S. operations be separated from ByteDance. ​Under the new structure, about 80% of the U.S. TikTok entity is owned by non-Chinese investors, with ByteDance keeping only a 19.9% share. The newly formed entity, “TikTok USDS Joint…

Amazon has reached a settlement valued at more than $1 billion to resolve claims that it failed to properly refund customers for their returns. The settlement includes more than $600 million already distributed or soon to be paid in refunds, plus additional funds that will be paid out to affected consumers, according to court documents. Under the settlement, Amazon will pay $309.5 million into a non-reversionary common fund, a pool of money set aside for members of the class-action lawsuit. The company has already issued about $570 million in refunds, with about $34 million of refunds remaining. Reuters was first…

By Rotation, one of the U.K.’s most popular peer-to-peer fashion rental platforms, announced on Wednesday a partnership with the ride-sharing app Uber.  From now until May 31, By Rotation users in the U.K. can rent outfits from others in their neighborhood and have them delivered via Uber within 60 minutes at a 10% discount. Though the discount applies to all users, the service is geared toward those renting ski gear. By Rotation said that 30% of the ski renters on its platform look for same-day pickup, and this partnership seeks to alleviate the annoyance of renting bulky, expensive ski gear…

The latest wave of AI excitement has brought us an unexpected mascot: a lobster. Clawdbot, a personal AI assistant, went viral within weeks of its launch, and will keep its crustacean theme despite having had to change its name to Moltbot after a legal challenge from Anthropic. But before you jump on the bandwagon, here’s what you’d need to know. According to its tagline, Moltbot (formerly Clawdbot) is the “AI that actually does things” — whether it’s managing your calendar, sending messages through your favorite apps, or checking you in for flights. This promise has drawn thousands of users willing…

Social network Bluesky is teasing its roadmap for the year ahead, emphasizing a focus on things like improving the app’s algorithmic Discover feed, offering its users better recommendations on who to follow, giving the app more of a real-time feel, and more. At the same time, the company admitted that it needs to work on getting the “basics” right, too. Launched to the public in early 2024 after an invite-only period, the decentralized X and Threads alternative has since scaled to over 42 million users, according to data sourced directly from the Bluesky API for developers. Though it’s differentiated from…

Palmer Luckey’s eyes light up, and he talks a mile a minute, when discussing his company’s new recruiting event: the AI Grand Prix.  This is a drone flying contest with a twist. Rather than humans operating drones, the drones must operate autonomously. The humans will be tested on their software-writing skills that cause the drones to outfly their competition.   There are prizes ranging from a $500,000 pot to be spilt amongst the highest-scoring teams, to jobs at Anduril, and a chance to bypass the company’s standard recruiting cycle.  “It was something that I decided we should do,” Anduril founder Luckey said in an interview with TechCrunch. Luckey…

Anthropic has doubled the amount of VC funding it aims to raise, the FT reports, increasing the target from $10 billion to $20 billion. The round, expected to close soon, will give the company a valuation of $350 billion, sources told the FT.   Anthropic, which makes the popular AI Claude and the equally popular Claude Code, decided to double its funding target due to booming investor interest. Backers in this round are expected to include Sequoia Capital (which also invests in its rival OpenAI), Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, and investment management firm Coatue, per the FT.  Late last year, it…

TikTok settled a high-profile lawsuit on Monday evening, which alleges that social media companies intentionally make their products addictive, causing harm to users. Snap settled the case last week, but Meta and YouTube — the other defendants — are now heading to trial, where jury selection begins on Tuesday. Centering around a 19-year-old plaintiff known by the initials K.G.M., this case is the first of many similar legal challenges against social platforms. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and YouTube head Neal Mohan are expected to testify, which could set a precedent for how dozens of other lawsuits could play out. By…

On a Monday night NBC News segment, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei expressed concern over “some of the things we’ve seen in the last few days,” referring to the violence of Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. Amodei focused on the importance of preserving democracy at home, both on NBC and in a post on X that specifically called out “the horror we’re seeing in Minnesota.” On NBC, he said he’s a believer in arming democracies to defend against autocratic countries, and that “we need to defend our own democratic values at home.” He added that Anthropic has no contracts with Immigration and…