Glitch-Tok 📲🇺🇸

👀 TLDR

In this week’s What’s Appening, we cover the launch of the (kind of) all-new US version of TikTok. It hasn't really gone to plan, to be honest, with significant glitches and accusations of content suppression. We also take a look at an AI app that can be an essential aid for people with blindness, Meta testing paid features across its apps, Live apps with Claude, and much more!

🎬 Our Top Take

🇺🇸📵 TikTok – USDS Joint Venture Switchover Beset By Bugs and Conspiracies

The mainstream media didn’t give it too much attention because, well, everyone is preoccupied with other matters, but the handover from Chinese-owned TikTok to the US version of the app happened last Thursday. How’s it going? Hmmm. Let’s deal with the easy part first: the platform experienced a series of glitches on Sunday, with data center issues causing slow load times, bugs, and other issues that impacted creator earnings, as major accounts say their videos recorded 0 views. The second area is more of a political hot potato: Reports and TikTok users have claimed that certain subjects are being suppressed by the algorithm, including those critical of the Trump administration and those that mention topics such as “Epstein” and “ICE’. As one user on X put it, there is zero news on the platform. The state of California is investigating those reports, though we should note that there have been arguments to the contrary. Privacy campaigners have also sounded the alarm, claiming the data collected by US TikTok is waaaay more intrusive than the Chinese version. The upshot, uninstallation of the app has skyrocketed over the past few days, and a rival platform, UpScrolled, has rocketed up the app store charts. So, yeah, how’s it going? Not great. #TikTalk Read more here.

📲 App of the Week: Be My Eyes

Not necessarily an app required for every reader this week, but we really wanted to put a spotlight on the wonderful Be My Eyes, an AI-powered app that provides visual assistance to people with blindness or low vision. Some of the testaments to Be My Eyes, and similar apps tagged as “AI Mirrors”, have been incredible, showing how it helps users transform everything from skincare regimes to building self-esteem. You can find out more about Be My Eyes here. The app can be downloaded here for Android and here for iOS.

🧐 Stat of the Week: 1-2 Years

📈📉 AGI – Anthropic CEO Offers Surprising Warning About AI Systems

AI – and its potential – is effectively holding up the stock market, so it’s rare to see a CEO talk about it negatively. Yet, Anthropic CEO Dario Amode has done just that in an essay that warns AI is advancing faster than the systems designed to contain it. He specifically claims that AGI – artificial general intelligence, i.e., the point AI outstrips humans – could come in 1-2 years, and he also espoused that up to 50% of white-collar jobs could be in danger within 5 years. We have to take these predictions with some skepticism, but he’s the CEO of Anthropic, after all, so if anyone is qualified to make predictions like this, it’s him. #AGI Read more here.

🗞️ Other Stories

📍 Meanwhile at 3Advance

Some fun news from Shift – the Shift app has quietly dropped into app stores in Ireland and the UK. We haven’t officially announced this yet, but we wanted to give our WA readers across the pond an early look. This is a meaningful step forward for a platform that’s always been about connection first. If you or someone you know lives in Ireland or Britain, click right here to be among the first to get the Shift app. More on this to come!