It has even been touted as a rival to news sites such as Buzzfeed.

它甚至被譽為Buzzfeed等新聞網站的競爭對手。

ByteDance is arguably one of the biggest app companies in the world.

ByteDance可以說是全球最大的應用公司之一。

Valued at over $100 billion dollars, ByteDance is also one of the most valuable tech start-ups.

估值超過1000億美元，ByteDance也是最具價值的科技創業公司之一。

It was only in recent years when the company made headlines for its apps

直到最近幾年，該公司才因其應用程序而成為頭條新聞。

such as Toutiao, and its most popular product TikTok.

如途牛，以及其最受歡迎的產品嘀嗒。

But now the company is finding itself in the crosshairs of Washington

但現在該公司發現自己正處於華盛頓的十字路口。

amid rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China.

在中美地緣政治緊張局勢加劇的情況下。

Chinese tech companies have been expanding globally in recent years and ByteDance is no exception.

近年來，中國科技企業在全球範圍內不斷擴張，字節跳動也不例外。

However, its path to prominence has been unique, considering the Chinese behemoth was only

然而，它的崛起之路是獨一無二的，考慮到這個中國巨獸僅有

founded in 2012 by tech entrepreneur Zhang Yiming, who was then 29.

2012年，由當時29歲的科技創業者張一鳴創立。

Casting himself as a tech maverick, Zhang launched ByteDance in 2012 without taking

鑄就了自己的技術特立獨行，2012年，張小龍創辦了字節跳動，沒有以

a single cent from the Chinese trinity of Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent,

中國的百度、阿里巴巴和騰訊三位一體的一分錢。

while becoming embroiled in lawsuits against his domestic rivals in the process.

而在這個過程中，卻陷入了與國內競爭對手的官司中。

Its first of many apps, Neihan Duanzi, was a platform for jokes in the form of memes

其在眾多應用中的第一個應用--內涵段子，是一個以備忘錄形式的笑話平臺。

and short videos, boasting 30 million users at one point.

和短視頻，一度擁有3000萬用戶。

However, its flagship app was Toutiao, an algorithm-based news aggregator app powered

然而，它的旗艦應用是途牛，這是一款基於算法的新聞聚合應用。

by artificial intelligence.

由人工智能。

By using machine learning, the app generates a personalized content feed catered to each user.

通過使用機器學習，該應用會生成迎合每個用戶的個性化內容源。

Barely one year after its founding, Zhang, who was a former Microsoft employee,

創立不到一年，曾是微軟員工的張。

trained his sights on the global stage to compete with the likes of Google and Facebook.

他把目光投向了全球舞臺，與谷歌和Facebook等公司競爭。

Douyin, an app tailored to short videos typically lasting for 15 seconds,

豆瓣，是一款為短視頻量身定做的應用，一般時長15秒。

followed four years later, capturing the domestic Chinese market by storm.

緊接著四年後，以迅雷不及掩耳之勢佔領了中國國內市場。

If that sounds familiar, that's because ByteDance managed to replicate its success

如果這聽起來很熟悉，那是因為ByteDance成功地複製了它的成功。

in Douyin with an international version: TikTok.

在鬥音與國際版。TikTok.

In 2017, ByteDance acquired Chinese social media network Musical.ly — which was wildly

2017年，字節跳動收購了中國社交媒體網絡Musical.ly--該網絡曾瘋狂地

popular in the U.S. and Europe — and merged the lip-sync app with Tiktok

在美國和歐洲很受歡迎 - 並將脣語同步應用與Tiktok合併。

allowing it to capture a sizeable international market.

使其能夠佔據相當大的國際市場。

By 2020, TikTok boasted 100 million users in the U.S. alone

到2020年，TikTok在美國就擁有1億用戶。

with over 2 billion downloads worldwide.

全球下載量超過20億次。

Other notable apps in the ByteDance stable include Helo, a social-media app catered to

ByteDance穩定的其他著名應用包括Helo，一款針對社交媒體的應用。

the Indian market, and BaBe, a news aggregator app in Indonesia.

印度市場，以及印尼的新聞聚合應用BaBe。

Together, these apps generated about $2.9 billion in profits in 2019

這些應用在2019年共創造了約29億美元的利潤。

with the bulk of its revenue coming from advertisements.

其大部分收入來自廣告。

But why are ByteDance's apps so popular?

但為什麼ByteDance的應用會如此受歡迎？

For one, the company's strength lies in artificial intelligence.

其一，公司的優勢在於人工智能。

From video streaming apps to news services, ByteDance leverages on artificial intelligence

從視頻流應用到新聞服務，ByteDance利用人工智能

to draw users to its apps and get them hooked.

以吸引用戶使用其應用，並讓他們沉迷其中。

During the 2016 Olympics, ByteDance co-created an AI writing bot that wrote hundreds of

在2016年奧運會期間，字節跳動聯合打造了一個人工智能寫作機器人，寫出了上百個

short articles for Toutiao.

途牛的短文。

One such article, which had 50,000 views, was published just two minutes after an event had ended.

有這樣一篇文章，瀏覽量達5萬人次，在活動結束後兩分鐘就發表了。

The bot, which has more than 150,000 followers on social media,

這款機器人，在社交媒體上擁有超過15萬名粉絲。

has since written over 600,000 articles.

此後寫了60多萬篇文章。

It is the same AI that powers TikTok, tapping on information such as location data

這與TikTok的人工智能一樣，挖掘位置數據等資訊。

and viewing habits to create personalized feeds that are addictive.

和觀看習慣，打造個性化的feed，讓人上癮。

In 2019, TikTok was the 6th most actively used app worldwide, with its users spending

在2019年，TikTok是全球第六大最活躍的應用，其用戶花費了

68 billion hours on the platform.

平臺上680億小時。

As the company's fortune rose, so did the scrutiny of its products, amid growing concerns

隨著公司財富的增長，對其產品的審查也越來越多，越來越多的人擔心。

about its Chinese ownership and the privacy of its users' data.

關於其中國所有權和用戶數據的隱私。

In August, U.S. President Donald Trump issued executive orders requiring TikTok to

8月，美國總統唐納德-特朗普發佈行政命令，要求TikTok在。

shut down in the U.S. or find new owners within 90 days, citing national security concerns.

以國家安全為由，在美國關閉或在90天內找到新的主人。

Despite attempts by TikTok to localize as it expanded, such as hiring more senior American

儘管TikTok在擴張的過程中試圖進行本土化，比如僱傭更多的美國資深人士。

executives and tripling its U.S. employees from 300 to over 1,000 in a span of 12 months,

高管，並在12個月內將其美國員工從300人增加到1000多人。

these moves came to naught.

這些舉動都是徒勞的。

But the misgivings with ByteDance go beyond TikTok or U.S.-China relations.

但是，對ByteDance的疑慮不僅僅是TikTok或中美關係。

In November 2019, American teenager Feroza Aziz was locked out of her TikTok account

2019年11月，美國少女Feroza Aziz被鎖定在她的TikTok賬戶上。

after she uploaded a video condemning the Chinese government's treatment of

在她上傳了一段視頻，譴責中國政府對中國人的待遇後，她就開始了對中國人的關注。

Uighur Muslims, an ethnic minority group in the country.

維吾爾族穆斯林，是我國的少數民族。

TikTok later issued a public apology and lifted the suspension of Aziz's account

隨後，TikTok公開道歉，並解除了對阿茲賬號的停用處理

although it denied claims of censorship.

雖然它否認了審查的說法。

ByteDance has also been accused of deleting articles critical of Chinese authorities on

ByteDance還被指責刪除了責備中國當局的文章。

BaBe, its Indonesian news app.

BaBe，其印尼新聞應用。

Content deemed sensitive to the Chinese government, such as the Hong Kong protests,

被認為對中國政府敏感的內容，如香港的抗議活動。

and the Tianenmen Square incident, or the lack thereof, have cast a spotlight on

和天安門事件，或者說沒有天安門事件，都讓人們關注到了。

ByteDance's alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

ByteDance被指與中共有關係。

This formed the basis of a U.S. National security investigation into TikTok and ByteDance, and

這構成了美國國家安全局對TikTok和ByteDance進行調查的基礎。

it's part of a wider move to curtail reliance on Chinese technology and products.

這是減少對中國技術和產品依賴的更廣泛行動的一部分。

The rise of Chinese juggernauts has largely mirrored China's ascendancy on the world stage.

中國巨頭的崛起，很大程度上反映了中國在世界舞臺上的崛起。

However, China's fraught relations with other countries, including India, has largely

然而，中國與包括印度在內的其他國家的關係錯綜複雜，基本上已

proven to be stumbling blocks for the international expansion of its homegrown tech firms

證實是其本土科技公司國際擴張的絆腳石。

including ByteDance.

包括ByteDance。

In June, India banned nearly 60 Chinese apps, including ByteDance's Helo and TikTok after

6月，印度禁止了近60款中國應用，其中包括ByteDance的Helo和TikTok，因為在

bilateral relations soured over a border clash.

雙邊關係因邊境衝突而惡化。

With Indian users forming about 30% of the 2 billion TikTok downloads, the potential

印度用戶佔TikTok下載量20億的30%左右，潛力巨大。

ban could potentially result in a loss of more than $6 billion for ByteDance.

禁令可能會給ByteDance帶來超過60億美元的損失。

Besides India, TikTok is also facing broader scrutiny in other places such as Turkey,

除了印度，TikTok在土耳其等其他地方也面臨更廣泛的審查。

Australia, and the European Union.

澳洲和歐洲聯盟。

Even as Bytedance's woes pile up, the company remains defiant, vowing to continue charting

即使Bytedance的困境堆積如山，該公司仍不甘示弱，誓要繼續繪製地圖

its plans for global expansion.

其全球擴張計劃。

And it is no stranger to regulatory pressure.

而對於監管壓力，它也不陌生。

In fact, its first app, Neihan Duanzi, was ordered by Chinese censors to shut down in 2018.

事實上，它的第一款應用 "內涵段子 "在2018年被中國審查機構勒令關閉。

Toutiao was also temporarily removed from app stores in the same year,

途牛也在同年從應用商店中暫時下架。

but the company emerged relatively unscathed.

但該公司相對安然無恙。

This time, ByteDance is caught between a rock and a hard place, with Chinese nationalists

這一次，ByteDance被夾在石頭和硬骨頭之間，中國的民族主義者們

branding the company as a 'traitor' for yielding to U.S. demands, while foreign governments

該公司因屈服於美國的要求而被冠以 "叛徒 "的稱號，而外國政府則

remain wary of its alleged ties to Beijing.

對其被指與北京的關係保持警惕。

So what's next for ByteDance?

那麼，ByteDance的下一個目標是什麼？

The fate of its apps, especially TikTok, exemplifies the challenges ByteDance is facing

其應用的命運，尤其是TikTok，體現了ByteDance面臨的挑戰。

after years of growth.

經過多年的發展。

Until it can reassure local regulators over concerns about user privacy, it is likely

在它能就用戶隱私的擔憂向當地監管機構作出保證之前，它很有可能

that ByteDance's plans for global expansion will take a backseat as the scrutiny intensifies.

認為隨著審查的加強，ByteDance的全球擴張計劃將退居其次。

Hey, guys. Let us know what you think of the ByteDance and TikTok issue right here in our comments.

嘿，夥計們，讓我們知道你們對ByteDance和TikTok問題的看法。讓我們知道你對ByteDance和TikTok問題的看法，就在我們的評論中。

Thanks for watching this video, subscribe if you haven't already and stay safe.

謝謝你觀看這個視頻，如果你還沒有訂閱，請訂閱，並保持安全。