Alexandra S. Levine

Personal scoop: I'm joining Bloomberg to cover TikTok! I've long admired the work of @sarahfrier @KurtWagner8 @aishacounts @rileyraygriffin @daveyalba @jillianannward @tsgiles and so many others at @business — and I'm thrilled to be a part of their all-star @technology team! 🎉

This marks the first legal challenge to the TikTok deal brokered by the Trump administration and finalized in January: news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-re…

In the US, ByteDance is best-known as a social media company because of TikTok. But it's also a dominant AI company -- and a threat to American AI pioneers like OpenAI and Anthropic. With new concerns from Hollywood, the US seems to be waking up to that:bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

ByteDance is currently hiring for nearly 100 US-based roles within its Seed AI team across San Jose, LA, and Seattle to develop LLMs, drug discovery, and more (@ali_lev / Bloomberg) bloomberg.com/news/articles/… #a260219p24" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">techmeme.com/260219/p24#a26… 📥 Send tips! techmeme.com/contact

The CEO of the new TikTok venture may be relatively unknown in some tech circles, but he's been widely seen as the most influential US-based leader at TikTok. Adam Presser is now at the helm of an app worth at least $14B and used by more than half the US: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

TikTok and ByteDance have officially closed a national security deal to avoid a TikTok ban in the US, where more than half the country uses the app. Here are the details. And if you work (or worked) at TikTok, let's chat! Reach me on Signal: alexandra.25 bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The first-ever TikTok Awards in the US are happening live tonight from the red carpet at the Hollywood Palladium. On the significance of the company doing this now -- and the creators making the jump from the phone screen to the big screen: bloomberg.com/news/newslette…

Scoop: TikTok and ByteDance signed binding agreements with Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX, per internal memo from CEO Shou Chew reviewed by Bloomberg. This signals a path forward for TikTok to keep running in the US, ahead of a January divestiture deadline: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Babies under 2 are flocking to YouTube -- giving the platform the potential to hook an entire generation before they’re even able to walk or talk. Some creators on the platform also see an enormous opportunity to make money off their attention using AI: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Yes, you can buy Birkin bags and Rolex watches on TikTok. TikTok Shop is evolving from what many consider an online dollar store into a high-end shopping destination offering pre-owned luxury that sells for thousands of dollars, often through TikTok Live:bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Scoop: TikTok projects that TikTok Live could generate $77 billion a year globally by 2027, according to a newly unsealed lawsuit brought against the company in Washington. The financials, from a @DCAttorneyGen complaint, haven't been previously reported:bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

American ByteDance investors would no doubt prefer not to lose TikTok US, and a ban may take a near-term toll on their stakes. But TikTok US is not yet profitable, and some investors estimate it accounts for as little as 10% of ByteDance’s global revenue: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Some American ByteDance investors say they don’t need TikTok US for a big (eventual) payday. "I don't think losing TikTok is Armageddon,” one said. They argue that ByteDance's China business is the real driving force behind the company's $400B valuation: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

BREAKING: Apple is pulling its end-to-end encryption feature — Advanced Data Protection — in the UK, in a stunning development after the government ordered the company to build a backdoor to user data. Apple is not complying. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Must-read story from @byJuliaLove. Elon Musk has repeatedly posted about the dangers of letting unauthorized people into the country. But it turns out undocumented immigrants have helped build Tesla and SpaceX.

BREAKING: Apple to bring back TikTok to the U.S. App Store today following a letter from Trump AG Pam Bondi, sources tell me. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

BREAKING: Apple is relisting TikTok on its US app store tonight. Scoop from @markgurman @business bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

YouTube is running ads on TikTok to lure creators to the Google-owned rival. Google plays an unusual role in this saga-- it runs one of two app stores controlling whether people can download TikTok here, while it ALSO stands to win big if TikTok goes away:bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel says on earnings that uncertainty around TikTok has overall been a plus for the biz -- pushing creators to re-evaluate where to build audiences, and advertisers to seek out stable alternatives and ways to diversify their strategies: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Trump's proposal to put TikTok in a sovereign wealth fund: "We're going to be doing something, perhaps, with TikTok. And perhaps, not. If we make the right deal, we'll do it. Otherwise, we won't. ... And we might put that in the sovereign wealth fund."bloomberg.com/news/articles/…