A smartphone displaying an image of the Chinese social network TikTok which is used extensively by teenagers and a ban sign in Paris in France on January 16, 2025.Hans LucasAFP/Getty ImagesBy Solcyr BurgaJanuary 17, 2025 4:24 PM ESTThe fate of Tiktok is now in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump after the Supreme Court upheld the ban on the viral video app Friday. The Biden Administration announced it would not enforce the ban, which was set to go into effect on Sunday, Jan. 19, the day before Trumps inauguration.The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it, Trump said in a Truth Social post on Friday. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation.Trump previously asked the Supreme Court to pause the ban from going into effect so his Administration could look for a political resolution. But the President-elects current position on TikTok is a reverse from his 2020 stance, when Trump sought to ban TikTok. A federal judge blocked the act in December 2020. You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points and there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with it, Trump said in a post-election news conference in December. The U.S. first began investigating TikTok in 2019, two years after the Chinese company ByteDance acquired Musical.ly, which was then merged into TikTok. The ban comes after President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan law last April forcing TikToks parent company ByteDance to divest from the app or be banned in the U.S. citing national security concerns given the apps connections to China. During Supreme Court arguments, Department of Justice Solicitor General Elizaveth Prelogar claimed China could harvest the data of U.S. users which could then be used to harass, rescruit, and spy on the United States. ByteDance has said that it will not sell TikTok and claimed that the law infringes on the First Amendment rights of the company and the 170 million American users. "There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community," the court said in its decision. "But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikToks data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.In a statement Friday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that given the timing of the ban, actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday.Earlier on Friday, Trump announced that he had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the two talked about TikTok, along with other topics. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe, he said.Negotiations regarding the future of the social media platform appear to be in motion. In December, Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew. While the Supreme Court result did not fall in favor with the desires of TikTok executives, Chew still thanked Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States, in a video posted after the Supreme Court decision Friday, in which he shared that there had been more than 60 billion views of Trumps content on the app. Chew also shared that the company was still working hard to ensure the app would still be available to its users in the U.S. "TikTok itself is a fantastic platform," Mike Waltz, Trump's pick for a national security adviser, told Fox News Special Report with Bret Baier on Wednesday. "We're going to find a way to preserve it but protect people's data."More Must-Reads from TIMEL.A. Fires Show Reality of 1.5C of WarmingHome Losses From L.A. Fires Hasten An Uninsurable FutureThe Women Refusing to Participate in Trumps EconomyBad Bunny On Heartbreak and New AlbumHow to Dress Warmly for Cold WeatherWere Lucky to Have Been Alive in the Age of David LynchThe Motivational Trick That Makes You Exercise HarderColumn: No One Won The War in GazaContact us at letters@time.com

In context: TSMC is facing significant challenges in its efforts to establish advanced chip production facilities in the United States. Despite a $65 billion investment in three massive factories in Arizona, TSMC's CEO, C.C. Wei, has reiterated that the company's most advanced chip technology is likely to remain in Taiwan for the foreseeable future. Speaking at a National Taiwan University event, Wei outlined a series of obstacles that have slowed progress and increased costs for TSMC's U.S. expansion. These challenges include complex compliance issues, local construction regulations, and various permitting requirements that have significantly extended the project timeline."Every step requires a permit, and after the permit is approved, it takes at least twice as long as in Taiwan," Wei said, highlighting the stark contrast between the regulatory environments in the two countries. Other challenges include a shortage of skilled workers, gaps in the supply chain, and a lack of established regulations specific to chip plant construction.To address these issues, TSMC has taken extraordinary measures. Wei revealed that the company invested $35 million to establish 18,000 rules in collaboration with local governments, hiring a team of experts to navigate the complex regulatory landscape. Additionally, TSMC has faced significantly higher costs for essential supplies, such as chemicals, which are five times more expensive in the U.S. than in Taiwan.To mitigate the labor shortage, TSMC has resorted to relocating half of its construction workers from Texas to Arizona, incurring additional costs for relocation and accommodation.Despite this, Wei remains optimistic about the quality of chips that will be produced at the Arizona facility. At a recent earnings conference, he expressed confidence in achieving the same level of quality as in Taiwan and anticipated a smooth ramp-up process. // Related StoriesDuring the call, Wei noted that TSMC had accelerated the production schedule for its first fab in Arizona, which began high-volume production in the fourth quarter of 2024. The fab utilizes N4 process technology with yields comparable to TSMC's facilities in Taiwan. "With our strong manufacturing capability and execution, we are confident we can deliver the same level of manufacturing quality and reliability from our fab in Arizona as we do from our fabs in Taiwan," he said.Plans for a second and third fab in Arizona are also on track, Wei confirmed during the earnings call. "This is where we will utilize even more advanced technologies, such as our N3, N2, and A16 nodes, based on our customers' needs," he added.The U.S. government has thrown its full support behind TSMC's investment, offering a $6.6 billion grant as part of its strategy to diversify the geographic distribution of chip manufacturing, which is currently heavily concentrated in Asia, particularly Taiwan.However, at the event, Wei noted that the most cutting-edge chip technology might not reach American shores as quickly as some in the U.S. had hoped. This is not new information: TSMC has consistently maintained that the majority of its chip manufacturing, especially for the most advanced chips, will remain in Taiwan.

MGMTable of ContentsTable of ContentsShowing Up (2023)Pathology (2008)Being Mary Tyler Moore (2023)Are you in the mood to be scared? January may seem like an odd time to watch a horror movie, but for the last few years, the genre has thrived in the first month of the year with such recent hits as M3GAN and Night Swim. 2025 brings us Wolf Man, a modern retelling of the classic werewolf tale, and all signs point to another winter horror hit.But those movie fans who want something more mellow this weekend arent out of luck. Streaming has plenty of options, with Max being one of the best out there. In addition to such current popular movies like Juror #2 and Furiosa, the streamer has the following three movies that, for one reason or another, have been overlooked and underrated.Recommended VideosWe also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max,andthe best movies on Disney+.RelatedShowing Up | Official Trailer HD | A24When we first meet Lizzy (Venom: The Last Dances Michelle Williams), her life is a bit of a mess. A sculptor who works part-time at a local art school, shes preparing for an upcoming art show. Well, shes supposed to be preparing, but life always gets in the way. Her water heater is broken, and her landlord, Jo (The Whales Hong Chau), wont fix it. It doesnt help that Jo is also showing her art at the same show Lizzy needs to get ready for. To make matters worse, her father has surrounded herself with a bunch of untrustworthy hippies and her brother is showing early signs of mental illness.In anyone elses hands, Showing Up could be a comedy or a drama, but Kelly Reichardt, director of such modern classics as Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy, and First Cow, manages to make it a bit of both. Slice of life is a phrase commonly used to describe the directors films, and while accurate, it fails to capture the strange beauty each one of her films has. Showing Up doesnt have a lot going on, but in its depiction of the day-to-day joys and disappointments of everyday life, it captures something elusive and essential.Showing Up is streaming on Max.MGMThey cant all be winners, but movies like Pathology are the reason why guilty pleasure was invented as an excuse to enjoy less-than-stellar movies. In this medical thriller, Milo Ventimiglia, fresh off his multi-year sentence in Stars Hollow on Gilmore Girls, is Dr. Teddy Grey, a recent Harvard School of Medicine graduate who joins a sort of Skull and Bones-type secret organization for medical interns with a taste for committing the perfect murder. Teddy thinks these perfect murders are theoretical until he discovers, nope, they are real deaths.Led by Jake Gallo (Michael Weston), the group sets its sights on Juliette, who happens to be Gallos unfaithful fiance. As Teddy struggles to keep his horror concealed so he can expose the group and stop Jake, he may be putting himself, and his fiance, Gwen (Alyssa Milano), in danger. Whats a hunky, somewhat dim-witted doctor-to-be to do?Pathology TrailerPathology is silly and stupid, but its oddly watchable in an are-they-really-doing-this? kind of way. To his credit, Ventimiglia plays this straight, which only highlights all the absurdity around him. The ending is ridiculous, but also perfect, with karma as a medicine best served with a cold, sharp scalpel.Pathology is streaming on Max.Being Mary Tyler Moore | Official Trailer | HBOI never watched The Dick Van Dyke Show or The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but I knew how beloved our Mary was to her fans. But she was always that bright, distant TV icon with the million-dollar smile, and the woman behind that image was always an enigma to me.Being Mary Tyler Moore changed that, and for the better. The 2023 documentary by James Aldophus chronicles the entire life of the actress, from her childhood in New York City to her early work as a TV actress in such programs as 77 Sunset Strip and, later, The Dick Van Dyke Show. But its when she branched out on her own, forming her own production company with then-husband Grant Tinker, that Moore emerged as an icon, making The Mary Tyler Moore Show one of the defining programs of the 70s and a key moment in the womens movement during that time.HBOTheres more to her life than just that show, and the documentary is particularly fascinating when it focuses on after her marriage to Tinker ends and she navigates life as a single, older woman working in both Hollywood and the New York theater industry. Being Mary Tyler Moore is an in-depth look at someone you think you knew, but didnt; it also will make you want to watch Ordinary People again, so make sure you have tissues ready to soak up those tears.Being Mary Tyler Moore is streaming on Max.Editors Recommendations

The landmark recordingwhich came from a concert in Cologne, West Germany, that almost didnt happenis a work of gorgeous, stream-of-consciousness pianism.

csam meets ai Under new law, cops bust famous cartoonist for AI-generated child sex abuse images Darrin Bell won a major cartooning award in 2019. Nate Anderson Jan 17, 2025 4:08 pm | 44 Darrin Bell in happier times. Credit: Andri Tambunan | Getty Images Darrin Bell in happier times. Credit: Andri Tambunan | Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreLate last year, California passed a law against the possession or distribution of child sex abuse material (CSAM) that has been generated by AI. The law went into effect on January 1, and Sacramento police announced yesterday that they have already arrested their first suspecta 49-year-old Pulitzer-prize-winning cartoonist named Darrin Bell.The new law, which you can read here, declares that AI-generated CSAM is harmful, even without an actual victim. In part, says the law, this is because all kinds of CSAM can be used to groom children into thinking sexual activity with adults is normal. But the law singles out AI-generated CSAM for special criticism due to the way that generative AI systems work."The creation of CSAM using AI is inherently harmful to children because the machine-learning models utilized by AI have been trained on datasets containing thousands of depictions of known CSAM victims," it says, "revictimizing these real children by using their likeness to generate AI CSAM images into perpetuity."The law defines "artificial intelligence" as "an engineered or machine-based system that varies in its level of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate outputs that can influence physical or virtual environments."Acting on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Sacramento Valley Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force recently opened an investigation into 18 CSAM files being shared online. Further investigation revealed that the sharer was actually offering 134 CSAM videos, and police claim they were able to trace those files to the account of local resident and well-known cartoonist Darrin Bell.On Wednesday, police executed a warrant on Bell's home; they claim to have recovered "evidence related to the case, as well as computer-generated/AI CSAM." Bell was arrested and is being held on $1 million bail. In a statement, police noted that "this case was the first arrest by Sacramento Valley ICAC where possession of computer-generated/AI CSAM was charged against a suspect."Bell has long been a cartoonist. In 2019, he won a Pulitzer prize "for beautiful and daring editorial cartoons that took on issues affecting disenfranchised communities, calling out lies, hypocrisy and fraud in the political turmoil surrounding the Trump administration."According to local coverage of the case from NBC, Bell "has said the goal of his work is for people to be more respectful of human dignity."Nate AndersonDeputy EditorNate AndersonDeputy Editor Nate is the deputy editor at Ars Technica. His most recent book is In Emergency, Break Glass: What Nietzsche Can Teach Us About Joyful Living in a Tech-Saturated World, which is much funnier than it sounds. 44 Comments

Global IT spending continues to rise, and enterprises are increasingly moving budgets to services and software away from hardware investments. This shift in spending directly influences the strategic, operational, and investment decisions of high-tech providers. To stay competitive, they must prioritize customer-centric strategies and align business goals with operations. To facilitate this, embracing as-a-service (AaS) models is vital to meet current demands and drive future growth. Yet, most providers are not equipped to adequately address the demands associated with such an enterprise change.The AaS OpportunityIntegration of AaS offerings will be crucial for companies reinvention strategies and a well-executed AaS strategy benefits both tech providers and their customers. Recent Accenture research found that executives recognize the flexibility, stability and potential growth opportunities that come along with this. We found there is a shared optimism, with a measurable confidence in generative AIs (GenAI) applications to support business transformation. In fact, 97% of executives believe that gen AI can help their companies accelerate the shift towards models that focus on annual recurring revenue (ARR) and AaS offerings and 85% think that AaS offerings will add to their revenue stream but at the expense of their current products or services.Related:Worryingly, 75% agree that legacy technology hardware companies will no longer exist unless they begin acting more like software companies. That underpins the urgency for high tech companies to reinvent themselves immediately, not plan for it somewhere down the line. The benefits are twofold, for the customer this shift provides continued and superior value year over year. Additionally, providers have registered a positive impact on long-term revenue, customer retention and overall customer lifetime value.Addressing the Roadblocks to AaS AdoptionDespite the benefits of shifting to new models, which can bridge the gap between high-tech players and their customers, our findings point to a significant confidence split among respondents. Only 50% of executives believe they can meet theirpublicly statedARR goals. Although high-tech companies have the ideal products and services that could benefit from a cloud-hosted, subscription-based model via AaS to generate recurring revenue, manyfaceinternal challenges like grappling with legacy systems and tech debt.While theres positivity around the opportunity that AaS can bring, theres also hesitation in the industry to adopt it because many executives believe AaS models might cannibalize their existing offerings. They also believe that the success of implementing these models is heavily dependent on their sales force's readiness to adopt new ways of selling. This outlook questions the preparedness of high-tech companies to adapt to such a transformation.Related:However, to maintain a competitive advantage, high-tech companies need to implement a customer-centric strategy. This is especially critical given that enterprise customers are increasingly redirecting their IT budgets to prioritize services and software, with a notable focus on software as a service (SaaS).Embracing AaS to Navigate Customer Demand and RetentionThe primary benefits of shifting to an AaS model arm high-tech providers with the ability to address modern customer expectations and overcome the limitations of traditional product lifecycles, to build lastingvalue-driven relationships. Here are the keycustomer-centric strategiesthat executives need to focus on to establish themselves as leaders in the AaS era:Pivoting from transactional to relational customer engagement:With 98% of executives acknowledging that a companys products and services define their customer relationship, products need to serve more than just one transaction in their lifecycle and should be part of an ongoing relationship with the customer base. Therefore, they should move from product-focused to subscription-based organization to create long-term revenue growth and higher customer retention.Related:Replacing legacy systems with modern IT:Modernizing IT infrastructure is centered around creating a strong digital core, which consists of a cloud infrastructure,dataand AI. This will help companies stay ahead of competitors, expeditegrowthand guarantee operational security.Shifting focus from product features to customer outcomes:Customer needs have evolved and creating a dedicated customer success function will become a critical need for high-tech companies to enable AaS adoption. Gen AI is an essential technology that can provide a more detailed customer behavior analysis and will help identify new customer needs.Recalibrating the sales force:Although executive confidence in their sales forces ability to shift from transaction based to outcome-based compensation is in the majority, training talent to accelerate adoption and preparing them to sell under the new model is critical to enabling AaS across the organization.A rapidly changingdigital landscape and evolving market dynamics requires high-tech companies to assume more agility. To that end, meeting their ARR goals will also require adopting an AaS model that prioritizes customer-centricity. By leveraging these strategies, which rely on gen AI integration and Total Enterprise Reinvention, providers can make a decided effort to future-proof their companies and ensure sustainable growth.

A tiny drone powered by soft muscle-like actuatorsKevin ChenAn insect-inspired robot that only weighs as much as a raisin can perform acrobatics and fly for much longer than any previous insect-sized drone without falling apart.For tiny flying robots to make nimble manoeuvres, they need to be lightweight and agile but also capable of withstanding large forces. Such forces mean that most tiny robots can only fly for around 20 seconds before breaking, which makes it difficult to collect enough data to properly calibrate and test the robots flying abilities. AdvertisementNow, Suhan Kim at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his colleagues have developed an insect-like flying robot about the size of a postage stamp that can execute acrobatic manoeuvres, such as double flips or tracing an infinity sign, and also hover in the air for up to 15 minutes without failing.Kim and his team adapted the design from a previous flying robot, but they made the joints more resilient by having them connect across a larger part of the robot than at just a single failure point. This reduced the force through the joints by a factor of around 100, says Kim. They also used muscle-like soft actuators to move the wings, rather than standard electric motors. The latest science news delivered to your inbox, every day.Sign up to newsletterIf you only have 20 seconds to fly the robot before it dies, then theres not so much we can tune when we control the robot, says Kim. By having a hugely increased lifetime, we were able to work on the controller parts so that the robot can achieve precise trajectory tracking, plus aggressive manoeuvres like somersaults.This tracking meant that the robot could follow complex flight paths, like tracing letters in the air. Such manoeuvrability could eventually be used for things like artificially pollinating plants or inspecting parts of aircraft that people cant get to, says Kim.However, the robot is currently unable to fly untethered, as the team have yet to miniaturise a power source and the electronics that control it though they hope to improve this with future designs, says Kim.One aspect that often doesnt get talked much about is how long the robot would last when you fly it, says Raphael Zufferey at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who wasnt involved in the work. People have focused a lot on battery life and how autonomous we could make it, but no one really focused too much on how long it would mechanically last, and this paper really goes into that in detail.Journal reference:Science Robotics DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adp4256 Topics:robots

Democrats may need to help Republicans raise the debt ceiling this year.If that happens, Democrats aren't going to do it for free. They'll likely demand concessions.Rep. Ro Khanna, a Silicon Valley Democrat, says his party should demand a federal minimum wage hike.At some point in the next few months, Congress will have to raise the debt ceiling.For now, Republicans are planning to do it on their own. But if past is prologue, they'll probably need votes from across the aisle and Democrats are likely to demand something in return.Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat who represents Silicon Valley, told Business Insider this week that he believes the price should be an increase in the federal minimum wage."We should force Republicans to vote on it," the California Democrat told BI.Khanna did not specify a particular level at which he'd like to raise the wage, but Democrats generally support a $15 per hour federal minimum wage. Some, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, have proposed pushing it even higher, to $17 per hour.President-elect Donald Trump said in December that he would "consider" raising the minimum wage, but several Republican lawmakers later told BI that they opposed the idea.Scott Bessent, Trump's nominee for secretary of the treasury, said at a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday that he does not believe the current $7.25 per hour federal minimum wage should change.It's not clear if Democrats will follow Khanna's lead, though he told BI that he would "make the case to the caucus."Minimum wage increases tend to be popular among both Democratic and Republican voters in November, several Republican-leaning states passed minimum wage hikes via ballot measures.Democrats still have to figure out their price for helping RepublicansAs of now, Republicans want to avoid handing any leverage to Democrats in the first few months of Trump's presidency. They plan to include a debt ceiling hike in a broader party-line "reconciliation" bill containing a smattering of Trump's priorities on energy, immigration, border security, and taxes.But there's a good chance that won't work, given some hardline Republicans' deep reservations about raising the debt ceiling without dramatic spending cuts. Some Republicans have never voted to raise the debt ceiling before, and in December, dozens of them openly defied Trump's call to raise the debt ceiling after Elon Musk helped tank a government funding bill.If Republicans can't do it themselves, Democrats will have the chance to make demands, lest the country breach the debt ceiling and trigger a fiscal crisis."I'm not a cheap date," Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts told BI. "The idea that we're just going to help them out when they can't get their own members to cooperate, those days are gone."Of the several House Democrats that BI spoke to, only Khanna was willing to name a specific price. Others demurred, saying they were waiting to see what negotiations would look like in the coming months, and underscoring that Democrats would have to decide on their approach collectively."The sentiment from our caucus is: If you need our help on anything, you're going to have to help us," Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told BI. "All of this, I think, is subject to many of our internal conversations."Democrats could also use their leverage to try to halt the deep cuts to federal government spending that Republicans may pursue in the coming months, rather than making an affirmative policy demand."There's clearly a whole host of things that I think the caucus would have as priorities," Democratic Rep. Joe Morelle of New York told BI.

The TikTok ban seems imminent. The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law that would spell the end of TikTok as we know it in the United States, and now all parties involved are freaking out. Influencers are fleeing to rival platforms, including Xiaohongshu, a China-based app also known as RedNote. Politicians, even the ones who initially supported the ban, are trying to delay it. TikTok employees are surely wondering what theyll do at work next week.Others, however, are wondering if a future without TikTok could actually be a great thing for America. The complete demise of TikTok would mean one of the largest social media-slash-entertainment platforms is effectively out of the picture. That would leave billions of hours of attention free and millions of people craving new content, preferably short, viral videos that are microtargeted to each individual user and continuously update the cultural zeitgeist in weird unexpected ways. Thats what made TikTok so popular in the first place. If some other upstart platform has a better idea, though, the United States is open for business. And one app falling and being replaced by another would be nothing new.This kind of innovation has driven the social media industry, like a flywheel, since its inception in the early aughts. A platform, like MySpace, becomes popular and dominates attention spans for a few years, before falling out of fashion as newer platforms, like Facebook, show up with better features. Innovation spins the wheel, but boredom, cultural shifts, and enshittification how platforms start out serving users and end up serving their own purposes slows it down again. In TikToks case, there are obviously other forces at play: geopolitics and the fickle authority of the US government. Its still unclear if the government will enforce the ban or whether TikTok might find a way to maintain an American operation. Nevertheless, if it comes to pass, the end of TikTok would not necessarily mean that hundreds of millions of its users would return to the warm embrace of Instagram or YouTube, both of whom have comparable short-form video products. In fact, millions of soon-to-be former TikTok users are joining platforms like RedNote in order to protest the TikTok ban as well as the power of Big Tech.There are a lot of reasons why RedNote probably wont become the next TikTok. Chief among them is the fact that Chinese government censors arent thrilled by the influx of American users and whatever politically sensitive content they might bring with them. Its entirely possible that these TikTok refugees will find themselves kicked off RedNote in the coming weeks.That means the race to become the next TikTok starts now. Sure, plenty of TikTok users will retreat to familiar, aging platforms owned by Meta and Google. The TikTok ban also stands to inject the decentralized network of servers known as the fediverse that powers platforms like Bluesky and Mastodon with millions more users in search of their new favorite social media app, whatever it might be. Mark Cuban even said ahead of the Supreme Court decision that he would fund a TikTok alternative built on Blueskys AT Protocol, which is an open, decentralized network for social apps. If or how that happens remains to be seen.The media landscape hasnt shifted from one medium to another, said Rebecca Rinkevich, executive director of institutes at Harvard Law Schools Berkman Klein Center. Its broken into hundreds of fragmented channels unique to every individual making the attention economy more competitive than ever. The battle for eyeballs is won with novel features and algorithmic advantages.But before we get too deep into how the intriguing and often confusing fediverse works, it helps to understand why so many people dont want to go back to Instagram.The mechanics of the TikTok ban may be an outlier in the history of social media companies lifecycles, but the disappearance of a platform can lead to better platforms emerging.Take Napster, for instance. The file-sharing app lit up college campuses in the late 1990s and early 2000s by offering access to free digital music. This upset the recording artists, who eventually sued Napster out of existence. Within a decade, though, a Swedish startup called Spotify would take over the music industry, based in part on the Napster model of peer-to-peer file sharing. Spotify was a true revelation, offering essentially infinite music at a fairly low monthly cost, which is how it came to be worth nearly $100 billion. But now Spotify is plagued with complaints about how its platform just isnt as user friendly as it used to be. Some call this platform decay. Others call it enshittification.In the words of the Cory Doctorow, who coined the term, enshittification is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. In this 2023 essay, Doctorow goes on to argue that TikTok was well on its way to enshittification, as it couldnt resist the temptation to show you the things it wants you to see, rather than what you want to see a problem, given that TikToks whole reason for being was showing you what you wanted to see. (Theres a reason its pages are called For You.) Thats why, even without the actions of Congress, TikTok couldnt be the trending, avant-garde social media platform forever. It had already fallen into a cycle we saw with MySpace, then Facebook, Instagram, YouTube basically any platform that rose to prominence on the back of its utility and popularity with users and then decayed into something less useful but more profitable. In the past couple of years, TikToks decay has shown itself in the form of pushy ads and an inescapable shopping feature.Everyone got on this platform and Instagram and YouTube initially because it offered something exciting and free and added value to their interactions online, Rory Mir of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said. Over time, its been diluted by advertisements, manipulative content, and just has become a bad experience for the user.Of course, theres still a chance that TikTok will live to die another day in the United States. The law that the Congress passed last year requires the social media platforms parent company ByteDance to divest or shutter its US operations by Sunday. Apple and Google, by law, will have to stop offering TikTok in their app stores after that date. Although the app will continue to work, ByteDance wont be allowed to update it, so it will degrade over time. ByteDance, however, reportedly plans to shut down the app on the deadline, if it doesnt get a lifeline. But it might not have to. The Biden administration has said that it would not enforce the ban before Donald Trumps inauguration on Monday. Trump, who called for a TikTok ban back in 2020, is reportedly considering issuing an executive order to save TikTok soon after his inauguration, which TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will be attending. Legally, Trump probably cant do that with an executive order alone, since Congress passed the law and Biden signed it, but he could order his Department of Justice not to enforce the ban. Apple and Google could continue to let users download the app, ByteDance could keep updating it, and nobody would get fined up to $5,000 per user that can still access the app, if thats the case. And thats a big if.TikToks surprise survival, though, wouldnt halt that cycle of decay. Already millions of TikTok users were prepared to leave before the ban took effect, flooding alternative video apps like RedNote, Lemon8, and Flip. So not everyone is defaulting to watching Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, and it remains to be seen if they can or would return to TikTok. They may be ready for something new.A fediverse by any other nameIf the conversation around TikTok alternatives feels familiar, thats because we had a very similar one a couple years ago, when Elon Musk bought Twitter. Many predicted that Musk would transform that platform into a right-wing echo chamber, which he did, and wanted to move their attention elsewhere. That search for a new place to post is what introduced a lot of people to the idea of the fediverse, which is a good idea with a terrible name.The fediverse is a blanket term for a new approach to social media, one that relies on open-source software and decentralized networks of servers. Heres a useful definition from David Pearce at The Verge: Its an interconnected social platform ecosystem based on an open protocol called ActivityPub, which allows you to port your content, data, and follower graph between networks.In theory, your social media followers will follow you from network to network. You could also set up a single feed that would show you content from several platforms at once. So imagine if you didnt have to pick one TikTok alternative but instead you could see Reels, Shorts, and Snaps in one place. Thats not possible because Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat are closed ecosystems. There are signs that some legacy platforms are open to a new way of doing things, though. Meta turned heads last year, when it allowed Threads users to crosspost to fediverse platforms and follow fediverse accounts. There are also a growing number of developers building more open alternatives to major platforms using fediverse-friendly protocols.Bluesky emerged as the most promising Twitter alternative last year in part because it offered users a familiar, friendly front end experience without getting into the details of protocols, servers, or fediverse principles. (Freedom from Musks politics on X probably didnt hurt either.) Bluesky basically looks like Twitter used to look. And that success laid the groundwork for similar projects. Just days before the Supreme Courts TikTok decision, a startup called Pixelfed released mobile apps for its open, decentralized photo-sharing service. Its basically Instagram but for the fediverse. Theres also one called Flashes, which is built on top of Bluesky, that came out around the same time. The interconnected social platform ecosystem fun doesnt stop with photo-sharing. The developer behind Pixelfed, Daniel Supernaul, also built a decentralized TikTok alternative called Loops. While the app hasnt been released yet, you can see where things are going: When one major platform falls out of favor or shuts down, others rush to fill the void with a new approach, unique features, or even a completely different architecture. Its still hard to say which, if any, of these fediverse projects will become the next global sensation. After all, its notoriously difficult to create the next Facebook or Instagram or Snapchat or TikTok. Not only does the app have to work, but the right group of people have to come together to make it a sensation. And then you need something special.Catching a good point in time to be there when networks form is important, said Katrin Weller, a professor at GESIS Heinrich Heine University Dsseldorf. Sometimes very small changes in the technology can make a big difference.Theres so far little evidence that any of these fediverse projects have the novelty, momentum, or innovative touch to win a billion users in the next few years. Bluesky, for all its success, still has fewer than 30 million users, compared to 275 million Threads users. TikTok, by the way, says it has 170 million US users. Then again, who knows what tech will come up with next. TikTok started out as a lip-synching app for teens, only to evolve into an engine for internet culture and influence in the span of a few years. Facebook started out as a campus directory for college students and then evolved into a cesspool of misinformation that also sells VR headsets. Or maybe Elon Musk will buy TikTok, too, and fold it into X. That could really send people fleeing to the fediverse.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

Nintendo has finally revealed the Switch 2, but one account claims to have the information on how powerful the system will be and the numbers may surprise youTech15:27, 17 Jan 2025The Switch 2 has been revealedYesterday afternoon, Nintendo finally revealed the Nintendo Switch 2 but left plenty of information for an upcoming Nintendo Direct on April 2.We know it'll be a hybrid system, and it'll be backward compatible while also playing Switch 2 exclusives like what appears to be a new Mario Kart. It'll also use magnetic Joy-Con, and come in a slick new black colour.One account posted on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this week about the power on offer from the handheld, and you might be surprised to find out it has at least one key rival beat while also towering over its predecessor in terms of raw numbers.Content cannot be displayed without consentAs with anything on the Switch 2 until its full reveal, you should take everything with a fistful of salt. There's no telling where these numbers have come from, after all, but as NIB posted, the Switch 2 will vastly more power than its predecessor, and actually offer more Tflops (that's teraflops, a unit of measurement for compute power) than the Steam Deck both undocked and docked.The console doesn't have as much power as the ASUS ROG Ally though, apparently, but is closing in on a PS4's level of power while undocked, and blasts past it when docked.It's sure to please fans that have become accustomed to getting lesser versions of multiplatform games on Switch due to the console's much lower level of graphical grunt, and if it's true, could hopefully mean Switch 1 games will run much better (we're still not ready to go back to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet yet).Other leaks for the Switch 2's software lineup include one AAA third-party game making the jump, while other leaks have suggested the new console can run Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Assassin's Creed Mirage, and Metal Gear Solid Delta the latter of which still doesn't have a release date on any platform.We'll find out more on April 2, with the console getting a deeper dive. We're expecting Nintendo will showcase games, the hardware's capabilities, and give us that all-important price and release date.Don't forget, you can get hands on with it early here's how.Article continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.RECOMMENDED