Welcome back to Week in Review. This week, we’re looking at the impacts of the looming TikTok ban in the U.S., including the “TikTok refugees” moving to Chinese app RedNote, the surge of English speakers learning Mandarin on Duolingo, and more! Let’s get into it.
The Supreme Court upheld the law that will effectively ban TikTok tomorrow. The decision marks the end of TikTok’s monthslong legal fight against a law that essentially forces the app to shut down unless it divests its U.S. operations. Starting Sunday, it will be illegal for app stores and internet hosting services to distribute TikTok. The company warned that the app will “go dark” on Sunday, but it’s unclear what exactly will happen when the ban takes effect.
American users are flocking to RedNote, a Chinese short-form video app also known as Xiaohongshu, making it the No. 1 free app on the U.S. App Store. RedNote hits a lot of the right notes for creators looking for a TikTok alternative: It has a layout that’s similar to Pinterest’s, it is typically thought of as China’s answer to Instagram, and it boasts a number of social shopping features. But the transition hasn’t been easy for some people.
TikTok users are using Duolingo to learn Chinese in increasing numbers amid their adoption of RedNote ahead of the TikTok ban. According to Duolingo, the app has seen roughly 216% growth in new Mandarin learners in the U.S. compared to this time last year, with a sharp spike in mid-January as RedNote’s adoption took off.
This is TechCrunch’s Week in Review, where we recap the week’s biggest news. Want this delivered as a newsletter to your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here.
News
Mark Cuban wants to fund the next TikTok: The entrepreneur and investor said he’s ready to fund a TikTok alternative built on Bluesky’s AT Protocol, signaling potential for an open social web powered by the same technology that underpins Bluesky’s social network. Read more
Bluesky is getting a photo-sharing app: An independent developer is building a photo-sharing app for Bluesky called Flashes. At launch, the app could tap into growing consumer demand for alternatives to Big Tech’s social media monopoly. Read more
“ChatGPT, remind me to do my taxes”: OpenAI has a new way for ChatGPT to work for you. Paying users of ChatGPT can now ask the AI assistant to schedule reminders or recurring requests in a new beta feature called Tasks. Read more
How to break up with Meta: In the wake of Meta’s decision to remove its third-party fact-checking system and loosen content moderation policies, more people are searching how to delete Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. We put together a handy guide. Read more
UnitedHealth hides data breach notice: Change Healthcare, which lost more than 100 million people’s sensitive health data in a ransomware attack last year, said it has completed notifying those affected — but we found that UnitedHealth hid the breach notice for months. Read more
Nintendo finally announces the Switch 2: Nintendo shared the first images of the successor to the widely popular Nintendo Switch, featuring a bigger console with a larger display, updated Joy-Con controllers, and a less colorful design than its predecessor. Read more
Sonos’ CEO is out: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is leaving the company after eight years in the job following a botched update to its software platform that was littered with bugs and removed some long-standing features. Read more
Looking for a TikTok replacement? Try these: While there’s no 1:1 replacement for TikTok, there are some viable options to consider that offer a similar experience. We put together a list of the different apps worth checking out to scratch the itch. Read more
Even AI doesn’t like to be interrupted: Google NotebookLM’s AI-generated podcast feature needed some “friendliness tuning” after it was found to be “adversarial” and snippy when interrupted by human callers. Read more
Apple is pausing AI notification summaries: The company is facing backlash for generating inaccurate news alerts in news and entertainment apps. Apple said it’s also introducing changes to the summaries as a whole to allow for greater transparency. Read more
OpenAI gets into the local news game: Axios announced a partnership with OpenAI. As part of the deal, OpenAI will fund Axios’ expansion of its local newsletters into four new cities: Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Boulder, and Huntsville. Read more
Turn steps into screen time: A new iOS app called Steppin blocks your social media apps unless you walk a certain number of steps each day. By achieving daily step goals, users can unlock time on their most-used social media platforms. Read more