Japan2026-10-01 09:45:19Japanese court says a person’s voice can be protected by publicity rights in Tsuda Kenjiro AI caseA Tokyo court has, for the first time in Japan, said that a person’s voice can fall under publicity rights, extending a legal concept traditionally used to protect the commercial value of a celebrity’s name or likeness. The ruling came in a case brought by voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda, known for roles including Kento Nanami in Jujutsu Kaisen and Hyakunosuke Ogata in Golden Kamuy, against the operator of TikTok over videos that allegedly used generative AI to imitate his voice. The Tokyo District Court ruled on Sept. 30 that a voice, like a likeness, can serve as a symbol of an individual’s identity, and unauthorized use aimed at exploiting its customer appeal may infringe publicity rights. Still, the court rejected Tsuda’s request because the videos at issue had already been removed from the company’s servers. It did not decide whether the videos themselves infringed Tsuda’s rights. The case centers on an anonymous account called Nanami, which reportedly had more than 210,000 followers and posted at least 188 videos between July 2024 and September 2025. The decision is being watched as an early judicial marker for how Japan may handle AI voice imitation, even as questions remain over proof standards, enforcement, and the broader legal treatment of voice in the age of generative AI.40
Venture Capit2026-09-29 07:03:29VCs are chasing short-form attention as a16z, 20VC and Redpoint build media-style content armsVenture capital firms are starting to treat short-form content as a real distribution channel rather than a side experiment, according to Refinery Media’s Laurie Owen. He argues that the industry is going through a form of “TikTokification,” with founders, limited partners, investors and tech workers already spending meaningful attention on TikTok and Instagram Reels while most VC firms still remain underexposed on those platforms. In his framework, current VC short-form strategies fall into four buckets: rapid-response news commentary, founder-focused educational explainers, personality-driven content, and institution-level media operations. Owen points to examples across each category, including FGV Capital’s Drew Glover, Mission One Capital’s Atlas Berry, Atas VC’s Andrew Chan, Animal Capital’s Marshall Sandman, Park Rangers’ Erica Wenger, baukunst’s Kate McAndrew, Haatch’s Charlie WW, Moxxie’s Mitch Harounian, and Wischoff Ventures’ Nichole Wischoff. He also highlights 20VC, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Hartmann Capital and Redpoint as firms that are moving beyond personal posting and building native short-form capabilities inside the organization. His core argument is that content should not only make a firm better known. It should make it better understood before a first meeting happens. He also says short-form opportunity remains open because searching “venture capital” on TikTok still shows few traditional tier-one firms, even as basic talking-head content is likely to become saturated quickly.130
TikTok2026-09-21 08:59:42TikTok creator agencies turn to AI to cut costs and improve efficiencyTikTok creator management agencies are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence tools to reduce operating costs and improve efficiency, according to a Techub News brief citing Tech in Asia. The reported use cases span several parts of the business rather than a single workflow. Agencies are using AI to identify new creators, develop virtual singers, and automate routine operational tasks. The shift points to a broader push by creator-focused firms to streamline day-to-day work while lowering overhead. No additional financial details or company names were disclosed in the brief.320
ByteDance2026-09-16 02:27:53ByteDance revenue rose about 30% in the first half while net profit fell to roughly $20 billionByteDance posted strong top-line growth in the first half of the year, but profit slipped as spending on artificial intelligence climbed, according to a report by The Information citing three people familiar with the matter. The company’s revenue rose about 30% year over year to roughly $120 billion, while net profit declined by a single-digit percentage to about $20 billion. The report said the sharp rise in AI-related spending was the main factor behind the earnings decline, a rare drop in profit after years of expansion. It added that ByteDance recently completed a roughly $30 billion bank loan, described as the largest of its kind, with part of the funds expected to support continued investment in AI infrastructure. The same report compared ByteDance with Meta Platforms. Meta’s revenue also increased 30% in the first half, reaching $117 billion, leaving the two companies with nearly similar revenue scale. Their valuations remain far apart, however: Meta’s market capitalization stands at about $1.7 trillion, while secondary market trading tracker CapLight estimates ByteDance’s valuation at $630 billion. The report also said TikTok’s U.S. business has been accelerating its e-commerce push after completing a data security architecture restructuring in January, helping support overall revenue growth.510
ByteDance2026-09-16 00:10:06ByteDance net margin reportedly falls to 16.7% in H1 2026 as AI spending risesByteDance’s net profit reportedly declined in the first half of 2026 as the company stepped up investment in artificial intelligence, according to foreign media cited by ChainCatcher. The report said ByteDance’s net margin fell to about 16.7% during the period, while revenue still rose 30% year over year. Overseas revenue also reached a new high as a share of total sales. The company did not comment on the figures, the report said. Earlier foreign media reports had put ByteDance’s net margin at 26% in 2023 and 21% in 2024. Douyin continues to provide most of the company’s revenue, but overseas income, mainly from TikTok, now accounts for more than 30% of total revenue. The report added that overseas revenue grew nearly 50% in 2025, compared with about 20% growth domestically. That lifted the overseas share of total revenue from 25% in 2024 to above 30%. It also said ByteDance has been developing its own large language model and video model, operating Doubao, and expanding its AI cloud business. Seedance, its video generation model, was described as being in the top tier of the global AI video market. Separately, the company recently secured about $30 billion in bank loans.630
ByteDance2026-09-15 14:38:19ByteDance reportedly matched Meta on first-half revenue at $120 billion, while profit slippedByteDance generated about $120 billion in revenue in the first half of this year, up roughly 30% from a year earlier, according to The Information, which cited three people familiar with the matter. The figure would put the company slightly ahead of Meta’s roughly $117.1 billion revenue for the same period. Net profit was reported at about $20 billion, down by a single-digit percentage year over year. The report said overseas advertising and e-commerce growth at TikTok continued, but heavier spending on artificial intelligence began to weigh on profitability. ByteDance’s overseas revenue share also rose to more than 30%, up from 25% in 2024, with most of that contribution coming from TikTok. ByteDance is also said to be stepping up AI spending. Bloomberg previously reported that the company had discussed raising its capital expenditure this year to as much as $70 billion, mainly for AI infrastructure such as data centers. Reuters separately said ByteDance secured a $29.6 billion syndicated loan this month, with the funds mainly earmarked for AI projects outside China, including data centers in Southeast Asia.610
Techub2026-09-15 14:56:02Techub page lacks article body, leaving details on ex-TikTok executive's Superpose app unavailableThe available input identifies the item as a Techub technology update titled "Former TikTok executive launches AI app Superpose, which can analyze photos and generate posing suggestions." However, the fetched body does not contain the reported article itself. Instead, it only includes the platform's disclaimer, contact emails for copyright complaints and business inquiries, plus an app download link. Based on verifiable material in the input, only a limited set of facts can be stated with confidence: the source is Techub, the category is Technology Trends, the story URL is https://www.techub.news/flash/fc848cb0-fa7d-46f8-85be-c079b49b4f43, and the published timestamp is 2026-09-15T14:56:02.632Z. Beyond the headline, the input does not provide product specifications, launch timing, platform availability, executive identity, funding information, or any direct quote. Because the source text needed for a full rewrite is missing, no additional claims about Superpose are included here.600
ByteDance2026-09-14 09:47:11ByteDance Secures $29.6 Billion Loan Deal as It Pushes AI ExpansionByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has signed a $29.6 billion loan agreement with 28 banks, including HSBC and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, according to a report cited by ChainCatcher. The loan carries a three-year tenor, with an extension option of up to five years, and is priced 0.68 percentage points above the benchmark rate. It ranks as Asia’s second-largest loan this year, behind SoftBank’s $40 billion financing arranged in March. Bloomberg reported that ByteDance plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes as it advances its artificial intelligence goals. The company previously borrowed $10.8 billion from around 20 lenders in 2024, while the latest deal was initially marketed at $20 billion. ByteDance was valued at about $550 billion in February, and Bloomberg said in May that the company was weighing up to $70 billion in spending in 2026 on data centers and other AI infrastructure. The financing news came as Elon Musk, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called for a slowdown in the AI race and raised safety concerns. Separately, a Bitcoin Suisse report projected that spending by the largest U.S. hyperscale computing companies will top $800 billion this year and exceed $1 trillion in 2027.800
