tiktok – Page 5

tiktok-pledges-e12b-european-investment-as-norway-data-centre-nears-completion

TikTok pledges €12B European investment as Norway data centre nears completion

Corporates and innovation, Data and security, tiktok / DJ Henderson / December 1, 2023

TikTok has promised to invest €12bn as part of an ongoing push to appease European regulators, who have raised suspicions that the app’s user data is being monitored by the Chinese government.

In response to repeated allegations of this nature, the short-form video app launched Project Clover in March. While it might sound like a secret military sting operation, the programme is pretty mundane.

Essentially, Project Clover aims to build three massive data centres on the continent to keep European user data in Europe — and “within reach” of local authorities.

Yesterday, TikTok pledged €12bn over the next 10 years for the project. The first data centre, a facility in Dublin, Ireland, was completed in September. The second one is currently under construction in the frosty climes of Hamar, Norway.

The <3 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

TikTok this week announced it took possession of the first of three buildings at the site, and will begin migrating European data to the servers housed there from mid-2024. It said the centre will run solely on renewable energy and will be the largest facility of its kind in Europe once complete. The third and final data centre will also be built in Ireland.

tiktok's new data centre under construction in norway — A worker walks outside TikTok’s largest data centre in Europe, currently under construction in Hamar, Norway, November 30, 2023. REUTERS/Victoria Klesty

TikTok’s mammoth investment also covers the consultancy fee of British cybersecurity firm NCC, whom the social media firm hired to audit its data controls and provide third-party accountability.

“All of these controls and operations are designed to ensure that the data of our European users is safeguarded in a specially-designed protective environment, and can only be accessed by approved employees subject to strict independent oversight and verification,” said Theo Bertram, TikTok’s VP of Public Policy in Europe.

A series of institutions including the EU Commision, the UK Parliament, and the French government have banned use of TikTok on work-related devices, over fears that the app has been infiltrated by the Chinese government — allegations which the company has vehemently denied.

The full migration of TikTok’s 150 million European users in the region is expected by the end of 2024. Currently, the company stores its global user data in Singapore, Malaysia, and the US.

Published December 1, 2023 – 11: 13 am UTC

TikTok pledges €12B European investment as Norway data centre nears completion Read More »

Report: TikTok Parent Lays Off Hundreds at VR Subsidiary Pico Interactive, Tencent Scraps VR Plans

TikTok parent company ByteDance is reportedly laying off what South China Morning Post maintains will be “hundreds of employees” working at its VR headset manufacturing subsidiary, Pico Interactive. A separate report from Reuters also maintains Chinese tech giant Tencent is scrapping its plans to release a VR headset.

According to two people with knowledge of the Pico layoffs, a substantial portion of the VR headset maker is expected to be affected. The report maintains that some teams will see as much as a 30 percent reduction, while some higher-level positions are also expected to be affected.

After being acquired by ByteDance in August 2021, Pico job postings revealed the company was making a sizable expansion into the US to presumably better compete with Meta on its home turf.

Shortly afterwards, the China-based company then released its latest standalone headset, Pico 4, in Europe and Asia to consumers. Seen a direct competitor to Meta Quest 2, Pico 4 still isn’t officially sold in the US; the headset is currently only available across Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, and most countries in Europe.

It was also reported by Chinese tech outlet 36Kr that Tencent, the massive Chinese multinational, was disbanding it 300-person strong XR unit. The company has since refuted this claim with Reuters, stating instead it will be making adjustments to some business teams as development plans for XR hardware had changed.

Citing sources familiar with the restructuring, Reuters reports that Tencent is abandoning plans to release a VR headset due to a sobering economic outlook.

This follows a widening trend of layoffs which have affected nearly every big name in tech, including Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft. Microsoft recently announced it was shuttering its social VR platform AltspaceVR in addition to its XR interface framework, Mixed Reality Toolkit. Meanwhile, Microsoft has also had trouble fulfilling its end of a US defense contract which uses its HoloLens AR headset as the basis of a tactical AR headset.

It was also revealed late last year that Meta was planning to cut discretionary spending and extend its hiring freeze through the first quarter, alongside a layoff which affected nearly 11,000 employees, or around 13 percent of its overall workforce.