The release of “Diablo IV” is right around the corner

TikTok does not want to compete with the BBC at Eurovision but instead “complement” and drive viewers towards its grand final coverage, a manager has said. The social media platform has partnered with contest organiser the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the BBC for the event in Liverpool, with busker pop-ups around the city, special coverage and gigs. James Stafford, TikTok’s general manager of marketing and operations for the UK, Ireland and Nordics, told the PA news agency the firm was doing “a lot of work” to promote the live TV broadcast. He said: “The hour before the live show on Saturday the BBC will be doing an exclusive live stream on TikTok that is designed to capture as much attention and audience from TikTok as possible, and direct them to go and tune in and watch the live broadcast. We would much prefer that we are a complement to those broadcasters and we can help them discover the next generation of fans who are going to tune in and watch Eurovision live on the BBC James Stafford “Now our goal here is not to compete with broadcasters for the live show. “We would much prefer that we are a complement to those broadcasters and we can help them discover the next generation of fans who are going to tune in and watch Eurovision live on the BBC.” Mr Stafford also sought to allay security concerns over TikTok’s involvement in the contest. TikTok is owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance, which argues that it does not share data with China’s government, but Beijing’s intelligence legislation requires firms to help the Communist Party when requested. Mr Stafford said: “The governments in Europe, including the UK, that have advised their employees not to use TikTok among other social apps on corporate devices is a purely precautionary measure, and it’s not the advice to ban the app in any of the markets. “We engage with all of our partners – the EBU, the governments that we partner with – to try and understand what their specific concerns are and share all of the information and be as transparent as possible about their concerns, so that we can move on from them.” Mr Stafford added that TikTok had had discussions with the EBU about the concerns. “Any one of our partners who has concerns, we are more than happy to be open and transparent with them about what they are,” he said. It came after Martin Osterdahl, the EBU’s executive supervisor for Eurovision, said the organisation plans to review its official partnership with TikTok – now in its second year – when the current contract ends. He told a press conference on Wednesday: “We review all our sponsorship agreements regularly and when they expire. We will do the same with TikTok. We will see what the situation is when that contract expires.” This year’s contest features a number of musicians with large followings on TikTok, including Norway’s Alessandra and Denmark’s Reiley. UK entrant Mae Muller, meanwhile, had chart success with her 2021 song Better Days after it went viral on the platform. Mr Stafford said that aside from last year’s UK entrant Sam Ryder being “incredibly talented” and “the most likeable person on Earth”, he also went into the 2022 contest with millions of TikTok fans. “I think a lot of other artists and delegations looked at that and saw the huge advantage there was to connect with fans and potential voters months before coming here,” he added. “So you will see that being a huge trend for the way various countries have selected their artists this year. “Of the 37 artists this year all of them are on TikTok and are really active and building their fan bases.” Darina Connolly, TikTok’s head of label and artist partnerships, said performers such as Israeli pop diva Noa Kirel, who has gone viral with a hand gesture dance move inspired by her song Unicorn, did not design their routines with TikTok in mind but such moments naturally translate to the app. She told PA: “I think all contestants are super focused on delivering the best performance that they can and I think easily a lot of that does translate to TikTok because we are an entertainment platform first and foremost, and people come to the platform to be entertained. “I wouldn’t say that the artists have done it specifically with TikTok in mind, but they have done it with entertainment in mind, which fits hand in hand with what we do as well.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Eurovision’s preparations for potential Russia cyberthreat ‘in good place’ UK-based tech company claims quantum computing ‘breakthrough’ Concert drone show organiser describes ‘nerve-wracking but exciting’ evening

Car infotainment systems are high-tech and rapidly increasing in their capabilities

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 17, 2023--

Google is developing an artificial intelligence tool for news publishers that can generate article text and headlines, the company said, highlighting how the technology may soon transform the journalism industry.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suspended a carbon price on oil used for home heating, bowing to political pressure

By Gabriella Borter WASHINGTON In 1998, the year a voter-approved measure barring the use of race-conscious admissions policies

Warzone Season 5 Reloaded likely kicks off on Wednesday, Aug. 30 with the 21 Savage skin, a new SMG, and the return of Armored Royale.

Rarely a day goes by at the moment without another breakthrough in artificial intelligence that seemingly fascinates and horrifies us in equal measure. The newest trend around AI involves the expansion of pre-existing pictures to show what the wider surroundings of the image would have looked like. While that doesn't sound particularly controversial it did manage to spark a debate when creators started using the tool to imagine what the surroundings of famous paintings like the Mona Lisa would have looked like. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter That was already considered controversial enough, as tampering with famous masterworks is big no-no, how would the internet feel when AI starts messing with their beloved memes? AI educator and designer Linus Ekenstam decided to test this by checking what AI thought was going on behind-the-scenes of some of the most popular memes ever. Using Generative Fill, the new Photoshop AI he took a look at memes like 'distracted boyfriend' and 'Hide the pain Harold' and these are the results. Other memes that Ekenstam looked at included the 'Change my mind' memes and the 'Woman yelling at a cat' meme. The debate around AI continues to linger on with some individuals experimenting with it in new and complex ways. One developer claims that he managed to 'clone' his girlfriend using ChatGPT. Meanwhile, musician Grimes, who has previously championed the technology is now claiming that it poses an "extinction risk." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

MADRID Spain's stock market supervisor said on Wednesday it had opened its first case relating to a possible

An eight billion-year-old radio signal containing extreme levels of energy has been discovered by astronomers. According to the journal Science, a “fast radio burst” was recorded as lasting for just a millisecond. The radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation was identified as FRB 20220610A, and it contained a truly staggering level of energy – releasing the same amount that the sun releases in 30 years. As CNN reports, the true nature of these blasts can often be hard to determine, given that they last for such a short length of time. It is believed, however, that they result from galaxies merging to create new stars. Furthermore, they could also be 'weighed', in order to measure the mass of the elements in the universe which are found between galaxies and unaccounted for. Coauthor Ryan Shannon said: “If we count up the amount of normal matter in the universe - the atoms that we are all made of - we find that more than half of what should be there today is missing. “We think that the missing matter is hiding in the space between galaxies, but it may just be so hot and diffuse that it’s impossible to see using normal techniques.” The huge signal was discovered using the Australian SKA Pathfinder radio telescope, before further observation was undertaken using a telescope in China – which was able to determine that the fast radio burst was the oldest and more remote example discovered to date. It comes after scientists were left baffled following the discovery of a mysterious object which sends radio waves every 21 minutes earlier this year. The really strange thing is, it’s been doing the same thing for 45 years and astronomers are still unsure about what it could be. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

Elon Musk launched his long-teased artificial intelligence startup xAI on Wednesday, unveiling a team made up of engineers