Hello! We hope you enjoyed yesterday's deep dive into ChatGPT and the burgeoning world of AI. If you missed it, read the full thing — or at least copy and paste it and have a bot summarise the key points — here:
ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant behind social media platform TikTok, has begun to see its growth slow — per a new report from The Information.
Your slow is my fast
Although best known in the western world for TikTok, more than 80% of ByteDance’s revenue comes from its domestic operations in China, thanks in part to its flagship video-sharing app Douyin. That revenue “only” grew 25% in the last year, according to people familiar with the company’s results.
In tech-land, everything is relative, and ByteDance’s growth rate remains remarkable, with total revenue for the group reaching a staggering $85bn in 2022. For a company in its 10th year of operations, that number is unprecedented. At a similar stage, Facebook (now Meta) had racked up just one-tenth of that amount, in fact it took the world’s largest social media company ~17 years to reach revenues of $85bn.
Ladders and snakes
Clearly it’s easier to grow quickly when following in the footsteps of giants, rather than forging the path for yourself. Convincing advertisers to part with their fiercely protected marketing budgets to buy ads on a social networking site was probably a lot more difficult in 2007 than it is in 2023.
Furthermore, TikTok has — somewhat ironically — been able to advertise itself on the other platforms. Spending at least hundreds of millions on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and other social apps, ByteDance's total sales and marketing bill came to a whopping $19.2bn last year.
Bugging out
Do you like to make things clean, don’t mind bugs or creepy crawlies and are looking for a career change? If so, you might want to consider joining the booming pest control industry in America.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that, since the end of 2019, total employment for extermination and pest control services has risen more than 18%. That’s ~6x the growth of the wider economy, where US employment has ticked up just under 3%. That means there are now 152,000 “exterminators” across the nation.
Those jobs are likely to be fairly recession-resistant as well — the rationale being that pest control is likely one of the last areas people would consider skimping on. Longer term trends look favorable too. When evening temperatures go over 60-70 degrees, pests thrive. That’s why global warming, as well as net migration towards warmer southern states like Texas and Florida, will likely keep exterminators in business for a long time to come — and increasingly “pest-conscious” consumers won’t hurt either.
Rat czar
One high-profile star of the field is New York City's first "rat czar" — Kathleen Corradi. A former elementary school teacher, Corradi is the city's leading force against the rodent population, a tough position sweetened by a $155k salary to take on the ~2 million rats in the city.
Whatenheimer?
Despite grossing nearly $650 million at the global box office, receiving stellar reviews from a variety of outlets, and becoming the highest-grossing World War II movie of all time, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has been somewhat dogged by audiences complaining about inaudible dialogue.
While Nolan explained away the quieter moments in the film as an “artistic choice”, some muffled speaking scenes may have had moviegoers wishing they could switch subtitles on for the big screen in the same way many do on their own TV.
Subs split
At-home audiences have increasingly toggled subtitles “on” in recent years, though some demographics are more inclined to add the descriptors than others. While traditionally seen as a tool to assist the hard of hearing, a factor that could lead one to assume that older generations are behind the boom, it’s actually Gen Z reportedly driving the subtitle surge, owing to the “starkly different” viewing habits of the younger generation.
A new survey from YouGov supports that theory, revealing that 51% of US adults aged 18-29 are watching TV with subtitles “always” or “most of the time”. That figure becomes even more striking when compared to just 18% and 20% of those aged 45-64 and over 65s, respectively, who said the same. Subtitle users reported a variety of factors behind their preference, though enhanced comprehension and the ability to better understand accents lead the way, with 40% of respondents equally citing each reason.
• The basket of the top US streaming services will cost you $87 from this autumn, up from $73 a year ago — want more on streaming? Check out our deep dive on the industry.
• Newly branded X, is selling over 600 items of Twitter merch, following the successful $100,000 sale of a 3-foot Twitter bird statue.
• Cheerios, including its 15 different varieties, is America’s best selling cereal, with annual sales over $435 million it's estimated that 1 in every 9 bowls of cereal in the U.S. is Cheerios.
• Stunning photos from the year's best meteor shower.
• How long does each team spend celebrating a goal in the English Premier League?
Off the charts: Which toy has seen sales surge 40% in July... which last year were looking sluggish? [Yes this question is quite easy, answer below].
