Fancy a little drama?
Then you’ll love the news we have for you this time. There’s a lot going on pretty much everywhere – from AI to Elon Musk.
Look for yourself:
DeepSeek, a potential ChatGPT competitor, has landed; Lego is being sued by X led by Elon Musk, and Threads has now seriously started testing advertising.
You can read about all this and more in the February edition of Xtracts, your digital news overview.
1. DeepSeek – the new competitor to ChatGPT?
New AI models are constantly being created, without the world reacting to it. However, the newest player on the market has set the cat among the pigeons.
DeepSeek is a Chinese startup that recently – a bit out of the blue – launched their AI model, DeepSeek R1, and it has, as Donald Trump says, been an eye-opener for the US.
What is so special about DeepSeek versus other strong AI models? Roughly speaking, it is about the fact that the United States is investing millions in the development of AI models, data centers and energy supplies. In addition, they have denied China access to the chips that they themselves use for their AI models in the hope of being at the forefront of the AI technology race.
Yet the Chinese DeepSeek has managed to create an AI model that is reportedly on par with the one behind ChatGPT – but for significantly less money and with chips of lower capacity. And that is a problem for the United States. This means that all the money that large companies are seeking from investors for the development of AI is being questioned – and whether the United States is really one of the leaders in the field of technology.
2. Snapchat adds new Platinum subscription
It has long been possible to buy a so-called Snapchat+ subscription, which gives access to several extra features in the app – and in the middle of the night, Snapchat has sneaked a new type of Snapchat+ subscription into the list. A Platinum subscription, which allows the user to get rid of ads in stories and lenses on the platform.
The option to get rid of ads is not entirely new but has existed in some countries since 2023. Last year, Snapchat expanded the market for the ad-free solution, and recently it has been named Platinum subscription.
So, if you advertise on Snapchat, there is no reason to be nervous. It will probably be few people who are willing to pay double the regular Snapchat+ subscription price per month to get rid of ads.
Source: Social Media Today
3. X and Elon Musk sue LEGO
Back in 2022, Elon Musk took over Twitter – now X – and in response, several large companies chose to drop advertising on the platform – including Ørsted, Nestlé, Shell and LEGO. All are members of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which is a subdivision of the World Federation of Advertisers.
According to the World Federation of Advertisers, the reason for the advertising stop is that Musk’s takeover of Twitter raised concerns about whether the media would live up to the principles of the association. This has led to X, led by Elon Musk, now suing all of them for illegally boycotting X. There are a total of 18 companies that are members of the alliance.
In general, the medium has experienced a decline in advertising revenue after Musk’s takeover, on the grounds that the companies fear appearing alongside harmful content.
The lawsuit may be difficult to prosecute, as it can be complicated to prove that there has been an actual boycott agreement that all the companies have chosen to join. And even if X and Musk win in court, they will not be able to force the companies to spend advertising money on the platform.
Source: TV2
4. What happens to TikTok?
“TikTok is closed,” or at least that was the case for Americans for about 12 hours.
Shortly before Donald Trump was officially inaugurated as the country’s president, he announced that he would suspend the ban on the medium that the Biden administration had implemented. And sure enough: that is what he did.
The closure was the result of a law that the Biden administration signed last year that stated that the medium had to close if it did not sell to American owners – for security reasons.
Although Trump has allowed the medium to operate again, it is not without costs for TikTok. He also believes that the US should have a share in the app – his demand is at least 50% ownership to the US.
However, the whole situation is in a bit of limbo. Because, the ban is still a reality, but at the same time, Trump has protected the companies that break the law and help TikTok operate in the country. Where this whole circus ends, and whether it has any impact on TikTok’s operations in Europe, is not yet known.
Source: DR
5. Meta tests ad format on Threads
Five months have passed since we last mentioned Threads and ads in the same sentence. Back then, it was to say that Meta was testing what potential ads could look like on Threads, but with no plans to roll out ads soon.
This time it is to announce that Meta has now started testing ads on the platform. These are initial tests, and initially only a limited number of users and brands from the US and Japan are part of these.
The plan is that it should be easy to extend existing campaigns from Facebook and Instagram to Threads – and therefore it will not require anything more than a tick in a box. In addition, it will be possible for advertisers to determine the sensitivity of the content surrounding the ads.
Meta had previously stated that ads would only become a potential reality when Threads had reached a billion users. A number that, of course, has not yet been reached. Still, it seems that it will not be long before advertisers can start moving onto the platform.
Source: Marketing Dive