In the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence (AI), a new player has emerged, shaking up the industry and unsettling the balance of power in global tech. DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, is generating considerable buzz for its cost-effective innovation and potential to rival leading Western companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.

A Chinese startup named DeepSeek has taken the lead in the AI race, with its assistant app becoming the most popular free app on Apple’s US App Store, surpassing ChatGPT, according to data firm Sensor Tower. The app, powered by the DeepSeek-V3 model, was launched on January 10 and has quickly gained attention in the United States.

Instagram has announced a new video editing app called Edits, aimed at creators who produce videos on their phones. The app, unveiled by Instagram head Adam Mosseri in a video on Instagram, is positioned as a competitor to CapCut, the video editor app owned by TikTok's parent company ByteDance.

Instagram has recently extended the maximum length of its Reels feature to three minutes, doubling the previous limit of 90 seconds, according to a recent announcement by Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram.

Perplexity AI, a US-based search engine company, has submitted a bid to merge with TikTok US, as per a recent report by Reuters. The proposal, submitted to TikTok’s parent company ByteDance on Saturday, was first reported by CNBC and confirmed by a source familiar with the discussions.

As the United States inches closer to a potential ban on TikTok, millions of American users are exploring alternatives, with RedNote emerging as a frontrunner. Known as Xiaohongshu, or 'Little Red Book', in its native China, RedNote has seen a sharp rise in popularity, driven by its resemblance to TikTok and its unique blend of short videos and e-commerce features.

YouTube is experimenting with a new 'Play something' feature, a floating action button that lets users start a random video playback instantly, as per a recent report by tech news platform 9to5Google.

OpenAI experienced an outage affecting its popular services, including ChatGPT, Sora, and its developer-facing API, beginning at around 12.30 a.m Bangladesh time on 27 December.

YouTube has recently announced plans to intensify its efforts against egregious clickbait, starting with a phased rollout in India over the coming months.

Albania announced a one-year nationwide ban on TikTok, the popular short-video app owned by China's ByteDance, on December 21, citing concerns over the app's influence on children following the fatal stabbing of a teenager last month.

Meta’s microblogging social media platform, Threads, has exceeded 100 million daily active users, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on December 17.

Google has recently announced the launch of Android XR, a new operating system designed for the next generation of extended reality (XR) devices, including headsets and glasses.

xAI, the AI company created by Elon Musk, has announced that its new Grok-2 AI chatbot is now free for all users on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Kino, a video creation app by Lux Optics Inc., has been named 'iPhone App of the Year' in Apple’s 2024 App Store Awards. Apple’s annual awards celebrate standout apps and games for their design, functionality, and cultural impact. This year, 17 winners were selected from 45 finalists by App Store editors.

OpenAI has officially launched Sora, its text-to-video AI model, in a recent livestream, marking the latest in its 12-day “Ship-mas” series of product announcements.

Microsoft is grappling with another outage affecting its Microsoft 365 services, marking the second disruption in two weeks.

Google Photos has launched a new feature called 2024 Recap, which offers users a way to review highlights from their year through selected photos and insights. The feature creates a memory with chosen photos, accompanied by graphics and effects, and is being gradually rolled out.

A US federal court has ruled that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, must sell its US operations by January 19, 2025, or the app will be banned nationwide. The decision is being seen as a major win for the Justice Department, which has raised concerns about TikTok’s ties to the Chinese government, but it is a significant setback for ByteDance.

OpenAI has introduced ChatGPT Pro, a new subscription model priced at $200 per month, aimed at professionals in research and engineering. According to the company, this new plan provides users with access to OpenAI’s most advanced tools and features, designed to handle complex computational tasks and reasoning.

Bluesky, the decentralised social media platform, has seen a recent surge in new users and is taking steps to improve security and combat impersonation. With more people joining the platform, the company is introducing stricter measures to ensure accounts are authentic and trustworthy, as per an official post by the platform.