1) FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told the Indian daily Economic Times that a TikTok ban is a “natural next step in our efforts to secure communication networks.” The app had 200m+ users in India before it was banned in 2020.
2) Beijing has plans to build a local “virtual people” industry worth $7B+ by 2025. Virtual influencers have gained traction recently, and 45% of advertisers have considered sponsoring a virtual influencer’s performance.
3) Since early 2020, 35+ companies have committed ~$200B toward American chip manufacturing projects across 16 states, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. That’s a lot of Pringles.
4) Hannah Williams, the 26-year-old who quit her $115k day job in May to launch a now-viral TikTok street interview series about salary transparency — appropriately named Salary Transparent Street — has made almost $600k since the switch.
5) Tesla delivered 405.3k vehicles in Q4, shy of analyst estimates of 420.8k. Tesla reported 40% growth in auto deliveries in 2022, delivering 1.3m vehicles in total, which, while strong, was short of its 50% goal.
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