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TikTok's newly spun-off U.S. entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture, has joined Lantern, an industry-wide program that lets tech firms share signals about child exploitation across platforms. The company also pledged $2 million toward a three-year, $10 million effort by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to upgrade its CyberTipline reporting system with automation and advanced search tools.
A growing number of TikTok creators are being paid by brands to produce content that mimics organic user videos while hiding its promotional nature, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal. Creators like Ceci Beck and Brooks Langford say they earn between $1,000 and $6,000 a month from this work, and one campaign manager reportedly told a creator to deny that a video was sponsored when asked directly.
Palo Alto startup ScrollEd, presenting at TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield 200, has built an app that transforms text files like PDFs and textbooks into short-form vertical feeds resembling Instagram Reels or TikTok. Users scroll through AI-generated video, audio, text, and quizzes, swiping up for new topics and sideways to dig deeper into a subject. Co-founders Utsav Gupta and Rebecca Neff, both current students, bootstrapped the company after growing frustrated with unproductive doomscrolling.
Joe Macken, a truck driver from New York, spent over 20 years building an intricate scale model of the city from balsa wood and foam board in his basement, eventually creating more than 800,000 structures. After his daughter posted videos of the project on TikTok and they drew over 10 million views in a week, the Museum of the City of New York invited him to display it. The exhibit, titled 'He Built This City,' opened in February and runs through October 12.
Major fast-food chains are officially adopting menu items first popularized by customers on social media. IHOP revived its Stuffed French Toast after fan requests and rolled out Dubai Chocolate Pancakes nationwide following a viral test run, while Chipotle launched Chili Lime Chips inspired by customers crushing chips into their bowls. Taco Bell's new 'Fan Style' feature lets loyalty members build and share custom orders, following similar moves by McDonald's and Burger King.
Former TikTok employees Melody Chu and Jing Liu have launched Superpose, an iOS camera app that uses AI to generate four suggested poses for a selfie or photo of a friend. Users can save these AI-generated poses or use a match feature to align themselves within the frame, and the app has been downloaded over 22,000 times with more than 190,000 poses generated since its July launch.
Amazon announced it is expanding Prime Video's news section with on-demand short-form clips covering local and national stories, initially available on TVs and living room devices before expanding to web and mobile apps. The clips will appear in Trending Topics and Local News carousels within the app's News destination, supplementing existing news partnerships available to all U.S. users regardless of Prime membership.
A longtime search marketer who began in the field in 1998 has published guidance urging entrepreneurs to rethink growth strategy around AI-driven search and creator collaborations. The advice centers on mapping customer questions before choosing marketing channels, then using that map to guide content, creator briefs and measurement of AI-search visibility. It also stresses partnering with creators who hold genuine audience trust rather than simply the largest followings.
A traveler recounts learning to navigate China's digital ecosystem during a two-week trip, noting that Western apps such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Google services are blocked by the Great Firewall. Instead, visitors must rely on Chinese 'super apps' like WeChat and Alipay, which are used for nearly everything including payments, since cash and credit cards are rarely accepted. The writer recommends linking these apps to credit cards before arrival, as setup abroad can be difficult.
Oracle announced Saturday that executive chairman Larry Ellison has called off a plan to sell 50 million of his shares, worth roughly $7.5 billion, that had been disclosed in an earlier regulatory filing. The company said no shares were sold under the plan and that Ellison has no other plans to sell Oracle stock, without explaining the reversal.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday filed a civil lawsuit against TikTok in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on August 11, 2026. The suit alleges the platform's design features are addictive and that TikTok has violated state consumer protection laws in ways that harm young users.
Maria Zhang, who previously led AI engineering efforts at Instagram, Tinder and Google, is now CEO of Palona AI, a startup applying large-scale AI techniques to restaurant operations. The company targets tasks like catering coordination, phone call handling and staff support rather than the recommendation and ranking systems she built at Meta and Tinder.