As Twitter Fades to X, TikTok Steps Up with New Text-based Posts

 
FILE - A visitor passes the TikTok exhibition stand at the Gamescom computer gaming fair in Cologne, Germany, Aug. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
FILE - A visitor passes the TikTok exhibition stand at the Gamescom computer gaming fair in Cologne, Germany, Aug. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
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As Twitter Fades to X, TikTok Steps Up with New Text-based Posts

 
FILE - A visitor passes the TikTok exhibition stand at the Gamescom computer gaming fair in Cologne, Germany, Aug. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
FILE - A visitor passes the TikTok exhibition stand at the Gamescom computer gaming fair in Cologne, Germany, Aug. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

The same day Elon Musk abruptly dropped Twitter’s name and bird logo as part of its supposed transition to an “anything app” called X, TikTok impishly announced it will begin letting its users post — you guessed it — text-based messages.
The popular Chinese-owned app, best known for lip-synced dances, often farcical “challenges” and other short videos, didn’t offer much explanation for the new feature. It did note in a statement that the service is “expanding the boundaries of content creation” by showcasing the written creativity users have previously had to share via comments and video captions, The Associated Press said.
TikTok announced the new feature late Monday.
It wasn't clear to what extent users have embraced text posts in their first full day of availability. That's partly because searching on variations of the term “text post” largely turned up examples of a popular video genre — those focused on text message phone conversations, typically selected for humorous effect. There were also a few brave users offering video explanations on how to make text posts.



Sam Altman Says Meta Offered $100 Million Bonuses to OpenAI Employees 

The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
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Sam Altman Says Meta Offered $100 Million Bonuses to OpenAI Employees 

The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Meta has offered his employees bonuses of $100 million to recruit them, as the tech giant seeks to ramp up its artificial intelligence strategy.

The alleged attempts by Meta to hire OpenAI staffers are the latest signs of a frenzy to hire top engineers to develop AI models, and they come at a time when the Facebook owner is working on building its superintelligence unit to catch up with competitors.

Competition for AI talent has reached a feverish pitch as superstar researchers are being courted like professional athletes on the belief that individual contributors can make or break companies.

"They (Meta) started making giant offers to a lot of people on our team," Altman said on the Uncapped podcast that aired on Tuesday, hosted by his brother. "You know, like $100 million signing bonuses, more than that (in) compensation per year."

"At least, so far, none of our best people have decided to take them up on that," Altman said.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours, and Reuters could not verify the information.

"I've heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor," Altman said.

His comments come just days after Meta invested $14.3 billion in data-labeling startup Scale AI, and hired its top boss, Alexandr Wang, to lead its new superintelligence team.

Meta, once recognized as a leader in open-source AI models, has suffered from staff departures and has postponed the launches of new open-source AI models that could rival competitors like Google, China's DeepSeek and OpenAI.