

Samsung Electronics banking on AI to outpace global growth in smartphones, home appliances
Samsung Electronics is set to enhance its on-device AI initiatives with the goal of surpassing the global expansion in the consumer electronics sector this year. According to Jong-Hee Han, CEO of Samsung Electronics, the worldwide consumer electronics market encompassing smartphones, TVs, and home appliances is projected to grow approximately 3% by 2025, as reported to CNBC’s Chery Kang. As the leading manufacturer of smartphones and TVs globally, Samsung anticipates its mobile devices division to see an increase of 4%-5% this year, while the growth in the TV and home appliance segment is also expected to pick up speed, Han, who also oversees the device eXperience (DX) division at Samsung Electronics, stated.
Amazon seeks to grow its advertising sector byallowing merchants to utilize its promotional tools within their shops.
In recent years, Amazon has evolved into a colossal player in online advertising, with brands investing heavily for prime visibility on the retailer’s platforms. Now, Amazon is opening the doors for other websites to leverage its advertising technology for their own marketplaces. This new service, named Amazon Retail Ad Service, enables businesses to display “contextually relevant advertisements in the optimal locations and at the ideal times” within search results, product pages, and various sections of their sites, as announced by Amazon on Thursday. Initially, this service is available for retailers in the U.S., who will incur fees based on their usage levels, though specific pricing details were not shared. In 2022, Amazon started detailing its advertising income in quarterly financial reports, revealing that this sector had become a vital asset to both the company’s revenue streams. The latest quarter saw advertising revenue reach $14.3 billion, making it the third-largest player in digital advertising, behind Alphabet and Meta. However, this figure pales in comparison to sales generated from Amazon’s online retail and cloud services, which totaled $61.4 billion and $27.4 billion, respectively, in the quarter ending October. The majority of Amazon’s advertising income is derived from sponsored product ads, which are keyword-focused advertisements allowing brands to promote specific products. Over time, Amazon has integrated more of these sponsored listings into search results and product pages. The company also secures some advertising revenue through its streaming services. With the Amazon Retail Ad Service, businesses will gain the ability to personalize the configuration, positioning, and quantity of ads displayed across their platforms, in addition to utilizing Amazon’s advertising measurement and analytics tools.
Microsoft contributes $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
On Thursday, Microsoft announced its commitment of $1 million to the inauguration fund for President-elect Donald Trump. The tech giant is now aligning more closely with its esteemed counterparts in the technology sector. Earlier on Thursday, Google revealed its own $1 million contribution to the Trump fund, and Meta had similarly pledged in December. Reports suggested that Amazon is also considering making a comparable donation. In December, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated his intention to personally contribute $1 million, and Axios reported just last week that Apple CEO Tim Cook would follow suit. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and the wealthiest individual globally, has been guiding Trump as he gears up for a return to the White House post-inauguration this month. In addition, Microsoft had previously donated $500,000 to Trump’s first inauguration fund and matched that amount for President Joe Biden’s fund, as shared by a Microsoft spokesperson with CNBC. Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, has met with Trump several times, including discussions regarding a potential acquisition of TikTok in the U.S. back in 2020. Nadella also participated in a Trump-led roundtable of tech leaders from across the country in 2017. Microsoft anticipates that under Trump, the U.S. will advance artificial intelligence policy in a beneficial manner. “The United States requires a strategic international approach to swiftly bolster American AI globally,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair and president, articulated in a blog post last week.
TikTok prohibition: Supreme Court examines free expression claims as deadline approaches.
On Friday, the Supreme Court will hear oral discussions regarding the future of TikTok in the United States, which may result in the popular application being banned as early as next week. The justices will deliberate on whether the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, the legislation aimed at TikTok’s prohibition and imposing severe civil penalties on app ‘entities’ that persist in offering the service after January 19, infringes upon the free speech protections outlined in the U.S. Constitution. The timeline for the court’s ruling remains uncertain, and should China’s ByteDance continue to decline to divest TikTok to a U.S. company, it risks facing a total ban across the country. What will change about the user experience? The approximately 115 million monthly active TikTok users in the U.S. could encounter various outcomes based on when the Supreme Court reaches a verdict. If no announcement is made before the legislation takes effect on January 19 and the ban is implemented, it’s feasible that users could continue to post or interact with the app if they already have it installed. Nevertheless, those users would probably face restrictions on updating or reinstalling the app after that date, according to several legal analysts. Countless short-form video creators who earn revenue from TikTok via advertising income, sponsorships, merchandise, and more will likely need to shift their businesses to alternate platforms, such as YouTube or Instagram. “Temporarily disabling TikTok, even for a single day, would have significant implications, not just for content creators on TikTok, but also for everyone who consumes or shares content,” stated George Wang, an attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute, who participated in drafting the institute’s amicus briefs regarding the case. “The situation establishes an extremely troubling precedent for how we oversee expression online,” Wang remarked.