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The top 5 business and tech news stories of May.
The more global a company is, the greater its impact on consumers around the world. But how does this interaction work, and what are the implications of the most high-profile events in business and technology for ordinary people? To find out, Laba is launching a monthly news format to analyse the most important events in global industries.
In May, Apple, OpenAI, TikTok, and WeWork were the most frequently mentioned names in our smartphone feeds. In just one month, several large-scale trends were launched that will influence the industry for years to come. The first is the open war between the US government and Chinese tech company ByteDance, which demonstrates the inevitability of social media's comprehensive impact on all areas of our lives. As these tech giants shape the future, the online gaming industry is also evolving, offering new opportunities for players. For instance, platforms like Wanted Win casino provide enticing promotions such as the Slotozen no deposit bonus, allowing users to experience cutting-edge gaming without initial investments. This reflects the broader trend of technology making high-quality entertainment more accessible to everyone.
#1: OpenAI plans to launch a ‘Google killer’ based on ChatGPT
On 6 May (Monday), global media resources started spreading rumours that OpenAI was actively developing a search product based on artificial intelligence and was preparing to announce it on 13 May (also on Monday). The search engine is supposed to become a direct competitor to Google and Bing.
The rumours were first spread by journalists of the Asian crypto media PANews. Later, the news was picked up by Binance, Bloomberg, and Reuters. The presentation of the mysterious OpenAI search engine was supposed to take place during an online broadcast dedicated to the demo of large-scale updates to the ChatGPT-4 model. In particular, the new version is able to discuss images with users, identify emotions from selfies, and solve maths and programming problems.
Despite the fact that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman dismissed rumours of the announcement, OpenAI could have launched such a hoax about May 13. After all, just one day later, Google I/O 2024, the most global annual developer conference, took place, where the tech giant talked about its skills in the application of AI. So, with rumours of the search engine release, OpenAI sought to draw attention to itself, keeping everyone in suspense.
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| Google's replacement, the US government against TikTok and Bolt is going public |
Sam Altman denies the possibility of presenting the ‘Google killer’ during the online broadcast on 13 May
It is known that the ChatGPT development company has already registered the domain search.chatgpt.com along with an SSL certificate (the domain is not working yet). And Sam Altman believes that the combination of LLM and search can yield extremely cool results and really launch a revolution in the search engine industry.
Everyone is waiting for the search.chatgpt.com domain to become active
ChatGPT Search's advantage over Google may be the ability to not only provide navigation results for users, but also answer questions in a language indistinguishable from human speech.
According to SimilarWeb, the top 10 search queries on Google Search currently include: youtube, facebook, amazon, gmail, instagram. These navigation queries do not provide an answer to a specific question, but still occupy the top ranking positions in the search results, making Google the No. 1 search engine among users.
However, nowadays, the audience wants to receive more than just direct instructions from search engines - it's time to communicate with Search Engine and get expert answers quickly. This is the idea behind ChatGPT Search by OpenAI.
However, this future search engine (as well as other AI-powered ones) is also vulnerable: OpenAI has not yet found a solution to copyright issues. After all, an AI bot pulls information from all open and accessible sources and may violate the policies of publications that prohibit copying their content or the rights of users who are content authors.
Another significant issue that could jeopardise the mainstreaming of the OpenAI search engine is the speed of providing answers. Google currently answers in seconds, while we are used to chatbots being able to generate text for about a minute (in particular, to simulate a response close to a human). How will Altman's company solve this issue? We are following the updates.
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#2. Blocking TikTok in the US: the first global war between the government and a tech company
On 23 April, the US Senate voted in favour of a bill that requires ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to sell its majority stake in the social network in the US. Otherwise, TikTok will be blocked in the US. The law was signed by Joe Biden.
Protesters rally against the TikTok ban in Washington, DC
The prospect of a TikTok ban is the first case of a government war with a tech giant of this magnitude, which underscores the great influence social media has not only on ordinary citizens but also on global politics.
According to the Associated Press, the Biden government initially gave ByteDance 6 months to leave its TikTok subsidiary in the United States. Later, the deadline was extended to 9 months with an extension for another 3 months if the sale process begins.
In response, representatives of ByteDance published a statement in the Chinese media outlet Toutiao (owned by the company) that they would rather liquidate TikTok in the United States than sell it. And in early May, ByteDance filed a lawsuit in a US federal court, demanding to block the law signed by Biden. It was after this that the news became globally known.
It is known that TikTok's ban will affect 7 million brands present on the platform and 170 million social media users. At the same time, the app's revenue in the US reached $16 billion in 2023, while ByteDance estimated the company's value at $225 billion. Therefore, TikTok's exit from the US could be a very expensive operation.
The Senate's determination to ban TikTok has been growing over the years, as US lawmakers and administration officials have constantly questioned the privacy of Americans' data registered on TikTok.
Congressmen are convinced that ByteDance is sharing this data with the communist authoritarian Chinese government. Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell said: "Congress is not out to punish TikTok, ByteDance, or any other company. We want to prevent espionage and malicious operations by foreign adversaries that could harm vulnerable Americans, military personnel, and U.S. government officials."
In addition, there are serious doubts about the adequacy of content on TikTok. In particular, videos of Kadyrov's tiktokers are flourishing here, child pornography content is being distributed, drugs and suicidal moods among children are being promoted.
Thus, on 31 January 2024, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to which the CEOs of TikTok, Meta, Snap, Discord, and X were invited. The topic of the hearing was the protection of children from online and social media sexual exploitation. However, the conversation touched on all the issues mentioned above.
As we can see in the first minutes of the video, when asked by Senator Tom Cotton whether Xi Jinping is a dictator, TikTok CEO Shu Ji Chu replies that he will not comment on any political leaders. Cotton then asked whether Shu Chu was afraid of losing his job or being killed if he acknowledged the connection between ByteDance and the Chinese Communist Party. The TikTok CEO again evaded the question.
Opponents of the TikTok ban in the United States argue that the Chinese government can easily access the data of American citizens without the social network's involvement - through data brokers who trade in confidential information.
In addition, opponents of the law say that the best way to protect consumers is to introduce a general federal data privacy law that would apply to all companies in the United States.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that ByteDance is determined in this fight with the US government and is confident of its victory. The Chinese tech giant will find itself in an extremely difficult position if the war against TikTok spreads to Europe, and there is a tendency for this to happen.
#3. Bolt is going public
In early May, the Estonian company Bolt raised €220 million in a loan in preparation for an IPO in 2025. In an official statement, this fierce competitor of Uber noted that such an investment strengthens the company's financial position and helps to move towards profitability.
Markus Willig, CEO of Bolt Technology O�, confirmed the preparations for a public offering and thanked investors for their trust. In particular, Bolt received this RCF from 8 lenders: Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, LHV Pank, and Luminor. The taxi service is estimated to be worth $11bn in 2024.
Bolt's plans for an IPO were announced in the summer of 2023. Demonstrating his determination, Willig strengthened the team with a new CFO with a strong background - Mikko Salovaar, ex-CFO at Revolut.
The IPO is a logical step for the scalable Bolt, which is positioning itself as Europe's first super app that enables mobility everywhere. At the same time, global investors, assessing the IPO market in 2024, call the situation ‘controversial’ and ‘difficult’. This is influenced by the Fed's high interest rate, the geopolitical crisis, the wars in Ukraine and Israel, and unpredictable US elections. In addition, investors see a tendency for tech companies to postpone public offerings due to the high requirements for listing and pressure from antitrust authorities.
The situation may change in 2025, but the market will still suffer from the above circumstances, as experts predict the emergence of new political and geopolitical conflicts, and the prospects for Trump's presidency are disappointing. For its part, Willig said Bolt is determined, but the final decision will depend on market conditions in 2025.
#4. ChatGPT integration into iPhone is coming soon: Apple and OpenAI finalise the deal
OpenAI is making every effort to make its ChatGPT product a part of the everyday life of consumers around the world. Not only does the company have ambitions to create a ‘Google killer’, but it is about to sign an agreement with the world's most expensive brand, Apple, which will allow the integration of ChatGPT functions into the iPhone.
This was reported to Bloomberg by trusted sources. In particular, the agreement between the two tech giants provides for the integration of ChatGPT into the new version of Apple's operating system - iOS 18.
According to insiders, the agreement between OpenAI and Apple is in its final stage. It has a global impact on the entire smartphone industry, as it opens up new and still unexplored prospects for the implementation of AI in gadgets. And Apple will be the pioneer in this process, which will once again emphasise its status as a technological leader.
Insiders also reported that Apple was in talks with Google about licensing the Gemini chatbot. The parties did not come to an agreement (probably, the initiative was intercepted by OpenAI), but negotiations are still ongoing.
Apple does not plan to develop its own bot, but takes into account the fact that the market needs such a product.
At the same time, by partnering with OpenAI, the corporation will be able to shift responsibility for data and confidential information to Sam Altman's company.
On the other hand, not all users will be able to access the AI functionality of the iPhone enhanced by ChatGPT. This limitation will primarily affect users with outdated iPhones. Therefore, Apple is likely to publish a warning: ‘AI features are available for iOS on iPhone 16’ (scheduled to be launched in September 2024).
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