ByteDance, founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming, is a Chinese technology company that has revolutionized the global social media landscape with its cutting-edge use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Best known internationally for its flagship product, TikTok, ByteDance has grown into a global tech powerhouse, offering a wide range of products from video-sharing platforms to news aggregation services. At just 10 years old, ByteDance, the most valuable startup in the world, has shattered records for growth. In 2021, with 1.9 billion monthly active users in 150 countries, and an employee base of over 110,000, the company recorded an astonishing $58 billion in revenues. Most users know the company only by its hit short-video app TikTok, which has been downloaded over 3 billion times globally, a feat only exceeded by Meta and its family of apps. Respectively, Toutiao and Douyin account for 20% and 60% of the company’s total advertising revenues.

Founded by Zhang Yiming, Liang Rubo, and a team of others in 2012, ByteDance developed the video-sharing apps TikTok and Douyin. The company is also the developer of the news platform Toutiao and the video-editing app CapCut. TikTok is banned from government employees’ work phones in the United States and several other nations including Australia and Canada over security concerns.

A privately held company, ByteDance does not release revenue and bull flag rules profit figures, but media estimates of its earnings put it on par with some of the biggest firms in the world. In 2020, TikTok was among hundreds of Chinese apps barred in India after deadly clashes on the country’s border with China. New Delhi said at the time the bans were intended to defend against threats to its sovereignty.

• “Although the United States has never found evidence that TikTok threatens US national security, it has not stopped suppressing TikTok,” foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, describing the bill as “bullying”.
• Additional logic data included tasks like Sudoku and 24-point puzzles, with adjustable difficulty to match model progress.
• ByteDance has also been accused of using apps like TikTok to employ intrusive data-gathering techniques.

ByteDance products have faced government-led investigations and large-scale bans in other countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Turkey. Hello and TikTok were banned in India, thereby removing millions of users from the apps’ reach. In addition, in November 2022 the European Union (EU) confirmed the existence of an ongoing investigation into TikTok’s data practices, including data transmissions to China. The app enjoyed early success with young Internet users, and its user base grew substantially in 2017, when ByteDance acquired the popular video-sharing app Musical.ly, which it merged with TikTok in 2018. Much of TikTok’s popularity came from viral videos that were shared by Internet influencers and social media stars who had millions of followers. TikTok’s popularity also increased considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic, as millions of housebound social media users turned to their phones for entertainment.

Other apps

These concerns have been echoed by US intelligence and law enforcement agencies – including by the FBI director this week – as well as regulators elsewhere. ByteDance has rocketed in recent years to become one of the most valuable companies in the world, worth around US$225bil (RM1.05 trillion), according to market intelligence firm CP Insights. With ByteDance now reportedly seeking an AI-powered pair of lenses, Meta’s Quest isn’t the only product it has in its sights. The company’s Ray-Ban glasses are also in sight — but that’s probably far off, at least with how the current rumors paint the picture. Alleged intel received by The Information from „two people” close to the matter claims ByteDance is developing its pair of AI smart glasses. The publication states that while this isn’t the company’s first foray into AI — they’ve made AI-ready earbuds and other gadgets before — this will be its first attempt with something of a larger scale.

ByteDance was founded in 2012 by a team led by Yiming Zhang and Rubo Liang, who saw opportunities in the then-nascent mobile internet market, and aspired to build itrader review platforms that could enrich people’s lives. The company launched Toutiao, one of its flagship products, in August 2012. It followed that success with the launch of Douyin in September 2016. Approximately a year later, ByteDance accelerated globalization with the launch of its global short video product, TikTok.

Douyin

This vision materialized in Toutiao (今日头条), ByteDance’s first product—a news aggregation app that quickly became popular in China by offering users tailored news feeds. Founded in 2012 by tech entrepreneur Yiming Zhang, ByteDance quickly launched a suite of apps beginning that same year with Neihan Duanzi, a platform where users shared jokes in the form of short videos, memes and written posts. ByteDance has faced several challenges, particularly related to privacy concerns and data security, especially with TikTok in international markets. Governments in countries like the U.S. and India have raised concerns over ByteDance’s data practices, which has led to regulatory scrutiny and, in some cases, platform bans. The early days were marked by slow growth and technical challenges, but the company’s dedication to leveraging AI for personalized content paid off. ByteDance’s breakthrough came in 2016 with the launch of Douyin (抖音), a short-form video platform for the Chinese market.

Company job postings show that ByteDance is hiring for hundreds of AI-related roles. Some of these services were natural applications of the technology that ByteDance developed for Douyin and TikTok, like filters that can make people appear much older or superimpose sparkly hearts on their faces. ByteDance used its metatrader 4 forex trading platform experience making these filters to help companies like Haier and Hisense develop movement-tracking technology for gesture-controlled home appliances such as smart televisions. All this spending has helped ByteDance make one of the most popular AI apps in China. Its chatbot, Doubao, gained 60 million users within its first three months on the market in 2024.

Company financials

This company bought ByteDance’s 1% stake and then placed Wu Shugang on the board of directors. Later that year, Reuters and The Economist elaborated on the incident as a golden share investment there is a Chinese government’s stake in ByteDance. ByteDance’s success is driven by its AI and machine learning algorithms, which form the core of its content recommendation systems. These technologies analyze user behavior to deliver highly personalized content, making apps like TikTok and Douyin incredibly engaging. ByteDance’s AI is sophisticated, constantly learning and adapting to user preferences, which helps increase user retention and satisfaction.

ByteDance generates revenue primarily through targeted advertising across its platforms. Brands and businesses can advertise to users based on their interests, as ByteDance’s platforms collect vast amounts of data to ensure precision targeting. Additionally, the company has expanded into e-commerce integration, particularly with Douyin, which allows users to purchase products directly through the app, merging entertainment with shopping.

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• Alleged intel received by The Information from „two people” close to the matter claims ByteDance is developing its pair of AI smart glasses.
• The name of that app was Toutiao, and later, they founded ByteDance.
• But in China, about 700 million use the domestic version, Douyin, and 300 million scroll the headlines on Toutiao, a news app.
• There are several types of TikTok ads, including In-Feed ads, Brand Takeovers, and Branded Hashtag Challenges.
• As estimated by mobile app analytics platform Apptopia, one of ByteDance’s top popular products TikTok’s revenue raised by 310% to over $50 million in the last quarter of 2019.

National security concerns about the collection of user data led the U.S. government to ban the app from being installed on government-issued devices. Legislation was also introduced that could lead to a national ban of the platform altogether. ByteDance is a global tech company which is headquartered at Beijing, China. The company is operating on a range of platforms allowing people to connect across languages, cultures and geographies to create, discover and connect. The company has a portfolio of applications available in over 150 markets and 75 languages, which includes TikTok, Helo, Douyin, Resso, Lark, Toutiao, and BaBe.

What is ByteDance, the TikTok parent in US crosshairs?

Instead, common business, operating functions, and technology are organized and centralized into corresponding teams. Besides these, there are several other platforms by ByteDance like, BaBe, which is Indonesia’s leading news and content app, Gogokid –  an English learning platform for kids, and Vigo Video – a video-making app. However, as per recent reports (June 2020), ByteDance is set to shut down Vigo Video in India. The letter, signed by Massachusetts Sen. Edward J. Markey, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen and New Jersey Sen. Cory A. Booker, asks Trump to urge Republican senators to approve the Extend the TikTok Deadline Act.

ByteDance is a global leader in AI-driven content platforms, known for revolutionizing the way users interact with video, news, and entertainment. Its products like TikTok and Douyin have reshaped digital entertainment, creating new opportunities for brands, content creators, and marketers. Despite facing challenges, ByteDance’s relentless pursuit of innovation continues to drive its growth and influence in the tech world.

It quickly took off in markets like Southeast Asia, signaling a new opportunity for the company. ByteDance acquired Musical.ly in November 2017 and subsequently merged it with TikTok. Today, the TikTok platform, which is available outside of China, has become the leading destination for short-form mobile videos worldwide. ByteDance, Chinese technology company that developed novel video-sharing social networking applications, most notably TikTok. ByteDance also serves as the parent company of several popular social media and news apps.

When asked during a US congressional hearing in March last year if a Chinese official was on the Beijing ByteDance Technology board, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said “I believe so”. The developers behind TikTok, ByteDance, are reportedly looking to enter the competitive AI space with a new wearable. The project also draws on previous efforts, such as Doubao 1.5 Pro, and incorporates shared techniques in RLHF and data curation. ByteDance’s moves to introduce Seed-Verifier and Seed-Thinking-Verifier offer mechanisms for more trustworthy reward modeling, which can be critical when deploying models into customer-facing or regulated environments. Seed-Thinking-v1.5 consistently outperformed DeepSeek R1 across sessions, reinforcing its applicability to real-world user needs.