TikTok’s Spying Scandal + ChatGPT Puts Google on Notice + Phone Jail

Calls to ban TikTok or force its sell-off from its parent company ByteDance are gaining momentum, especially after reports of ByteDance’s surveillance of several U.S. journalists. And could Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI mark the end of Google’s search monopoly?

Plus: New Year's resolutions, including locking up your phone.

On today’s episode:

• Emily Baker-White, a technology reporter at Forbes who reports on TikTok.

Additional reading:

• An inside view into Project Texas, TikTok’s plan to limit access to sensitive U.S. user data.
• ByteDance used TikTok to track the location of journalists including Emily Baker-White.
• On TikTok, Chinese state media outlets pushed divisive videos about U.S. politicians.
• Shou Zi Chew, TikTok’s chief executive, is navigating the limits of his power.
• The federal government and several states have banned TikTok on government-issued devices.
• ChatGPT is a “code red” for Google Search.
• Microsoft and OpenAI are working on a ChatGPT-powered version of Bing.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.