South African billionaire Elon Musk is known for his desire to swallow up companies and rebrand them with his own trendy vision. The Tesla CEO previously used his familial wealth to purchase stakes in such businesses as PayPal, SpaceX and of course, X (formerly Twitter). Now, according to official statements made by the Trump administration cabinet pick, the emerald mine profiteer is considering buying the rights to Vine, a defunct app which predates TikTok . This would be a major development in the world of social media, since the latter is still potentially facing a long-term ban within the United States, unless the app’s parent company ByteDance can agree to divest to American financial interests. When prompted by a fellow X user about bringing Vine back into the fray to fill in the power vacuum left by TikTok, Musk simply responded, “We’re looking into it.” So, now seems like as good a time as any to examine what Vine is (or was), how Elon could bring it back to compete with...

Meta has released an alternative to CapCut. The popular video-editing app was temporarily shut down the night of Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, following a TikTok ban. As AFROTECH™ previously reported TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, had been mandated to sell its app to a company based in the United States or it would be banned. The U.S. had concerns over the spreading of misinformation and China’s possible access to user data . ByteDance has maintained a stance that it will not sell TikTok, and hours before the ban was to become active, several of its apps were removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The ban officially went into effect on Jan. 19 and impacted ByteDance’s subsidiaries such as TikTok, Lemon8, Marvel Snap, Lark, Hypic, and CapCut, USA Today notes. Apple shared in a statement on its website: “Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps developed by ByteDance Ltd . and its subsidiaries — including TikTok,...

Tyrre Burks’ background in sports gave him an upper hand as a business founder. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Burks is the founder of Player’s Health, a platform offering solutions including insurance, an athlete safety suite with education and training, injury management forms, incident reporting, compliance forms, and tools to support name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, geared toward sports organizations, teams, leagues, and clubs. The inception of Player’s Health dates back to Burks’ time as a former college athlete who turned pro. Becoming an athlete was a means of escaping the realities of living on the Southside of Chicago, IL. “I had a choice and sports was one of ’em or the streets. And luckily, I chose football; I chose wrestling. I chose every sport that I could choose to keep me out of the streets. And that kept me safe. It kept me out of the streets, and it kept me out of trouble. And that led to college and professional football,” he said during a podcast...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Last week, the Chinese social app RedNote grew in popularity as a potential TikTok replacement . As TikTok users waited for the Supreme Court to rule on the ban, they quickly migrated to the platform. The app became number one in the Apple App Store, with thousands of American users joining. Users have mistakenly referred to RedNote as the Chinese version of TikTok, but the platform is more akin to Instagram. RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu in China, launched in 2013 as a shopping platform. Like many apps, it serves as a default search engine for content on makeup, fashion, travel, and lifestyle tips. Users can post photos and videos in a similar fashion to Instagram Reels and TikTok. The migration from TikTok to RedNote has become a protest statement in the wake of the U.S. government’s ban on TikTok. Initially, calls to ban the app began with President Donald Trump in 2020 before being passed...

Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok, is at the center of one of the most debated tech platforms in the world. Born and raised in Singapore, Chew’s career spans finance and tech leadership, bringing a mix of expertise and experience to the table as TikTok faces significant global challenges. From Singapore to Global Business According to Business Insider, Chew earned a degree in economics from University College London and later completed his MBA at Harvard Business School — he also interned at Facebook his first year at Harvard. He began his career at Goldman Sachs in investment banking before transitioning to DST Global, where he worked on major investments, including one in ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. Chew later served as chief financial officer of Xiaomi, a Chinese electronics company known for its affordable smartphone devices. During his tenure, Xiaomi expanded its global footprint and went public in 2018. His experience in managing high-growth companies positioned him for...

Jayden Daniels is using virtual reality technology to improve his performance on the field. According to Pro Football Network, the Washington Commanders quarterback has discovered a link between technology and football through an advanced VR tool that operates at 1.75 times the normal speed. The technology challenges Daniels with scenarios that unfold faster than he experiences in actual gameplay. “It moves faster within the VR than actual human beings…Once you get out there, everything slows down,” Daniels told The Athletic. “I know this is coming. I’ve seen this before, (and) it moved more than 20 times faster in VR.” Jayden Daniels made VR training a condition for any team drafting him. Now he’s NFL Rookie of the Year and 1 game away from the Super Bowl. His edge? Training his brain at 1.75x speed. The story of the first QB 2.0:🧵 pic.twitter.com/OndJs0Azme — Todd Jacob (@thetoddjacob) January 19, 2025 Daniels reportedly had a VR training requirement for any team that drafted him,...

Kyrie Irving had quite the year on the online marketplace StockX. The company, founded by Greg Schwartz, allows users to bid on or purchase shoes, streetwear, electronics, and collectibles, its website notes. To ensure a positive experience for all parties involved, several safeguards have been built into its platforms, such as a multi-step verification process, true market pricing, and security and fraud systems. According to information shared with AFROTECH, over 100 brands broke sales records in their marketplace. These include Saucony, Timberland, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Stanley. “The resale market proved its resilience in 2024,” said Greg Schwartz, StockX co-founder and CEO, in a statement shared with AFROTECH™. “Whatever 2025 has in store – whether it’s new names in streetwear, viral collectibles brands, or a fresh set of players in the sneaker space – our platform will continue to diversify to serve our customers as new trends take hold.” Moreover, Irving’s partnership with...

DEI terms are being removed from some public colleges. According to a landing page from The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 17, titled “Responsibility of Governing Boards Regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives,” on June 14, 2023. The bill restricts diversity, equity, and inclusion offices, as well as the programs, activities, and trainings across public institutions of higher education. It went into effect in January 2024. “DEI programs have been shown to be exclusive, they have been shown to be ineffective and they have shown to be politically charged,” Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, the ban’s author, stated on the Senate floor, according to The Texas Tribune in February 2024. “Many of these programs have been weaponized to compel speech instead of protecting free speech.” An internal memo shared in November 2024 by TikTok user momuniversity, who was a UT Austin educator at the time, provided updated...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Over the past week, Los Angeles County has been battling wildfires that have devastated the city. Although some of the fires can be attributed to worsening climate conditions, some politicians blame artificial intelligence. While AI has proven to be a useful tool for wildfire prediction, the substantial amount of energy and water it amasses for its use raises concerns for a state already facing water scarcity. Wildfires aren’t a rare occurrence in California. The state has always experienced either naturally occurring wildfires or arson-related ignitions. But over the past few years, worsening climate conditions have led to more frequent and increasingly destructive fires. As of the most recent occurrence, neighborhoods in Altadena, Malibu, and the coastal Pacific Palisades have sustained the most significant damage. Reports confirm that over 20,000 acres have been burned, and more than 120,000...

TikTok will remain operational for at least another 75 days following an order from President Donald Trump. On Monday, Jan. 19, 2025, during his first day in office , Trump — who has the authority to delay the ban for up to 90 days — ordered the federal government to pause enforcing the law that would ban TikTok nationwide, according to Forbes. The move gives ByteDance, the China-based owner of TikTok, more time to sell a stake in the platform or reach a deal with Trump. After signing the executive order, Trump said he believes the U.S. is entitled to 50% of TikTok and warned China that blocking any deal he may make would be considered an act of “hostility” and lead him to impose tariffs ranging from 25% to 100%, per Forbes. On Sunday, Jan. 20, Trump had promised to sign an executive order on Monday rescinding the ban, prompting TikTok to restore service for its more than 170 million American users after it initially took the app dark the night before. STATEMENT FROM TIKTOK: In...

Midway through the pandemic , in 2022, there were a small amount ( 19% ) of American workers who were working in jobs that were exposed to artificial intelligence (AI). Meanwhile, almost one-quarter (23%) of workers had the least exposure to AI. The remaining job industries varied with AI exposure. And while there are differing opinions about whether AI is taking away jobs from American workers or helping them to skip monotonous tasks, job seekers would arguably agree that they’d love to have an AI program that automatically filled in all of those little boxes in job applications. Even with a functional resume that focuses exactly on what the job description is looking for, some companies will still require filling out traditional job applications with your job history in sequential order. And this can quickly get tedious. Autofill sorta helps but not enough to avoid job seekers having to edit the automated info afterwards. So with all the extra work involved in using automated...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. TikTok may go dark in the United States. As a former TikTok employee, the way the ban will work here in the United States will be different than the one in India in 2020. The first difference is the politics surrounding why the bans are happening in the two countries in the first place. In India, the ban was less about TikTok and more so about the strained relationship between India and China. The root of their strain comes from the dispute that China and India have related to who owns Aksai Chin, which India claims to be part of its Ladakh region. China has claimed the land since 1962 and the Sino-Indian War. Due to the longstanding tensions between the two countries since, India opted to use economic tools against China, which in this case meant banning Chinese companies from doing business in India. When TikTok was banned from India so were WeChat, Alibaba, and Xiaomi. In the United States,...

There is still optimism surrounding the future of creators amid the looming TikTok ban. This sentiment is felt by Eddie Rizzo, who serves as the VP of marketing at WORTHI, a full-service cultural connections agency on a mission to grow brands and build IP all while amplifying people of color. In 2024, Rizzo managed nearly $1 million in creator partnerships primarily on TikTok for BIPOC creators and clients such as Paramount+, Max, Google, GoFundMe, Amazon, and more. “My mission as the VP of Marketing at WORTHI is to grow and develop the best of the best team of predominantly BIPOC and LGBTQ+ strategists and creatives to deliver impactful work for our clients that’s intrinsically culture-forward from the inside out because we live and breathe culture,” he told AFROTECH™ in an interview. “This aligns with our company’s overall vision of unlocking the business value and cultural impact of historically underestimated communities.” Looking to the current landscape, Rizzo acknowledges the...

Dawn Staley has made history yet again. The University of South Carolina’s women’s basketball coach continues to leave an indelible mark on the sport. Known for her trailblazing accomplishments, Staley first made headlines in 2021 when she became the highest-paid Black coach in NCAA women’s basketball, as previously reported by AFROTECH™. Her leadership has propelled the Gamecocks to remarkable success, including appearances in six NCAA Final Fours and securing the school’s first national title in 2017, Reuters reports. Since then, Staley has only strengthened her legacy. In 2024, under her guidance, the team celebrated an undefeated 38-0 season, culminating in their third national championship, according to Sports Illustrated. Notably, all three titles have been achieved during her tenure. A Historic New Contract Staley’s transformative impact on the University of South Carolina’s basketball program has earned her another groundbreaking contract. Per a university press release,...

Mellody Hobson is exiting her board role at Starbucks. Hobson is well regarded for her efforts at Ariel Investments, a global value-based asset management firm, where she is responsible for management, strategic planning, and growth beyond research and portfolio management as co-CEO and president, her LinkedIn mentions . In 2021, Hobson launched Ariel Alternatives, LLC, leading to a $1.45 billion raise for its private equity fund, Project Black. This initiative aims to support both non-minority-owned middle-market companies and those currently owned by Black and Latino entrepreneurs that generate $100 million to $1 billion in revenue, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. With funding, these companies would then be expected to transform into certified minority business enterprises of scale to serve as Tier 1 suppliers to the Fortune 500. Hobson has also been tied to various corporate boardrooms. She was a board member of the Estée Lauder Companies and chairman of the board of DreamWorks...