AI

How to Make TikToks Go Brrr

If you make a living using social media (and there’s an increasing number of you), chances are you’re always thinking about “the algorithm.” 

On Thursday, TikTok published 1,500 words detailing its recommendation system, the first inside look at the algorithm’s secret sauce. 

The user’s POV

The “For You” page is TikTok’s primo real estate. Swipe up for an endless video feed that only stops when you exit the app or your phone battery dies. When setting up an account, users seed For You with a broad list of interests (dogs and tech for me, in that order). 

TikTok’s new explainer outlines how the recommendation system learns what users want to watch as they navigate For You, weighing certain types of behavior:

• Strong signals: Did you watch a video beginning to end? Did you share it? And did you follow the creator? 
• Weak signals: What device are you using? What’s your language preference? Are you in the same country as the clip’s creator? 
• Other signals: Captions, audio, hashtags, and when a user long-presses a video and taps “Not Interested.” 

From the creator’s POV 

“For You” makes or breaks a video’s popularity. Once a clip is uploaded, TikTok shows it to a small group of users, interspersed between more popular videos. If the focus group responds positively, TikTok pushes it to more users. Repeat the process enough times and voila, you’re going viral. If your video doesn’t produce numbers with the focus group, it falls into algorithm purgatory.

From the power user’s POV

Videos from accounts with large followings will rack up views regardless, but TikTok says neither follower count nor past engagement trends directly factor into the recommendation system. This creates a level-ish playing field where newcomers still have a shot at going viral.

Bottom line: With 2+ billion downloads in under five years, TikTok is a distribution system with massive upside. Influencers and brands now have a better sense of how to reverse engineer the system and extend their reach.

AR/VR

Apple's Next Next Big Thing

Apple’s Technology Development Group is a secret team spearheading mixed reality work. It’s also a large team, making it difficult to keep everything hush-hush. 

What’s hush-hush: TDG has 1,000 engineers working on the N301, a heavier duty AR and VR headset, and the N421, a lightweight pair of AR smart glasses, Bloomberg reported Friday. Working, but also disagreeing. Apple’s laser focus on design led to early creative differences over the N301. 

• TDG chief Mike Rockwell initially wanted a stationary hub to power the device. 
• Jony Ive, Apple’s former design chief, chafed at the hub and wanted all hardware self-contained within the headset. 

CEO Tim Cook sided with Ive. Though the headset is “less technologically ambitious than originally intended, it’s pretty advanced,” Bloomberg writes, and designed to include ultra-high res displays and cinematic speakers. 

Big picture: The N301 and N421 are slated for a 2022 and 2023 release, respectively. When Apple unveils the products, they’ll have 1) impressive specs and 2) better names. You can take No. 2 to the bank. 

+ One more thing: CNET rounded up all the gossip flying around the Apple AR/VR rumor mill.

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AV

Das Frenemies No More

On March 5, 2019, the first edition of Emerging Tech Brew ran with the subject line “Das Frenemies.” The top story focused on BMW and Mercedes Benz teaming up to develop automated and autonomous driving technology. 

It brings me no pleasure to share that Das Frenemies are now undergoing a “mutual and amicable” split. It was too expensive to create a shared tech platform and source parts from suppliers, the German automakers said Friday. 

• They also cited downbeat “business and economic conditions.” On Friday, BMW said it was cutting 6,000 jobs. 

For now, BMW and Mercedes say they’ll focus on developing AV technology separately. But both companies left the door open to working with other partners and “explicitly wished to emphasize” they could tie the knot again down the road. 

Bottom line: Electric and autonomous collaborations are becoming customary in the auto industry to defray costs. While it didn’t work out for BMW and Mercedes, many other automakers remain committed to long-term joint ventures. 

+ Also on Friday: Volkswagen announced plans to develop its own automotive OS.

BITS & BYTES

Stat: Scientists have published 29,264 coronavirus-related papers, according to Primer AI. The AI startup says it’s using natural language processing to quickly sift through and categorize papers. 

Quote: “The initial report is that no money entered the Philippines and that there is no loss to both [BDO Unibank and Bank of the Philippine Islands] banks.”—Benjamin Diokno, governor of the Philippines' central bank. Wirecard, a German fintech firm that issues cryptocurrency debit cards, is missing $2.1 billion...and apparently it was never in the Philippines. 

Read: Segway inventor Dean Kamen’s next act is trying to mass produce lab-grown organs, OneZero reports.

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WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Uber is licensing B2B software, starting small with an on-demand service in Marin County, CA. This is a high-margin opportunity for Uber, so I’m keeping my eyes peeled for more deals.
• Baidu left the U.S.-based Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, per Wired. Elsewhere in geopolitical AI tensions, Nikkei reports that the U.S. blacklisted “China’s MIT.” 
• Doctors completed the first spine surgery using an FDA-cleared AR headset in the U.S. 
• Apple is closing stores again in Florida, Arizona, and both Carolinas due to rising COVID-19 infections. 
• Tesla acquired a $5 million plot of land outside Austin, where it will presumably build the next Gigafactory.
• More context on the App Store controversy facing Apple.

WHAT'S BREWING THIS WEEK

Apple’s conference will be taking a 30% cut of my mindshare this week. 

Monday: Apple’s WWDC 2020 runs virtually through Friday; Lesbians Who Tech runs virtually through Friday; EU-China summit held virtually

Tuesday: Web Summit’s Collision runs virtually through Thursday; Foxconn annual general meeting

Wednesday: Huawei opens flagship Shanghai store

Thursday: Marketing Brew, a new Brew newsletter, launches with a digital panel! SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son meets with shareholders

Friday: Saturday marks the 12th anniversary of Bill Gates stepping down as Microsoft’s CEO. Also this weekend: Semicon China, the country’s largest semiconductor trade show, begins 

TECH THINGAMABOBS

For another newsletter: Our friends at Inverse have a daily newsletter that covers the latest discoveries in science. The best part? You can earn rewards just for opening your email. Check it out.

For an absolutely wild story: The Daily Beast profiles Global Support and Development, a stealthy disaster relief charity started by Google cofounder Sergey Brin that uses super-yachts, drones, and former Navy SEALs to provide aid in disaster zones. 

For some inspiration: MIT Tech Review’s 35 innovators under 35. 

For robot sloths: Check out SlothBot in the garden.