TikTok in Talks with Indonesian E-commerce Firms about Partnerships

The TikTok logo is pictured outside the company's US head office in Culver City, California, US, September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The TikTok logo is pictured outside the company's US head office in Culver City, California, US, September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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TikTok in Talks with Indonesian E-commerce Firms about Partnerships

The TikTok logo is pictured outside the company's US head office in Culver City, California, US, September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The TikTok logo is pictured outside the company's US head office in Culver City, California, US, September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake

TikTok has been holding talks with Indonesian e-commerce companies about possible partnerships, an Indonesian minister said on Monday, a month after Southeast Asia's largest economy banned online shopping on social media platforms.
TikTok has spoken with five companies including GoTo's e-commerce unit Tokopedia, Bukalapak.com and Blibli, according to Teten Masduki, minister for small-medium enterprises (SMEs), Reuters said.
"Some e-commerce companies in Indonesia have talked to TikTok," he said in an interview, citing what the companies' executives told him.
Indonesia's trade ministry implemented the ban last month, aiming to protect smaller brick-and-mortar merchants and ensure the protection of users' data.
It was a particular blow to TikTok, which was forced to close its e-commerce service TikTok Shop. TikTok has 125 million users in Indonesia.
A TikTok Indonesia spokesperson was not available to comment.
Tokopedia declined to comment. A representative for Bukalapak said the company was unaware of such talks. Blibli did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
TikTok and YouTube are considering joining Meta in applying for e-commerce licenses in Indonesia after Southeast Asia's largest economy banned online shopping on social media platforms, people familiar with the discussions have said.
The app, owned by Chinese technology giant Bytedance, was also pursuing talks with local e-commerce players, they added.
Teten, one of the staunchest critics of TikTok Shop prior to the ban, said he has been tasked by President Joko Widodo to formulate rules on e-commerce.
He plans to meet TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew later this month.
"I want them to commit to have a sustainable business that does not harm domestic SME products," he said.
Teten also said he has proposed further regulations for the flow of imported goods into the country but did not provide details.
Until it stopped operations, TikTok Shop was delivering about 3 million parcels a day in Indonesia, sources have said.
Indonesia's e-commerce market is expected to grow to around $160 billion by 2030 from $62 billion this year, according to a report on Southeast Asia's internet economy by Google, Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings and consultancy Bain & Co.
Other major e-commerce players in Indonesia include SEA's Shopee and Alibaba's Lazada.



First Artwork by Humanoid Robot Sells for $1.3m

Ultra-realistic AI robot Ai-Da is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig. Ben Stansall / AFP/File
Ultra-realistic AI robot Ai-Da is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig. Ben Stansall / AFP/File
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First Artwork by Humanoid Robot Sells for $1.3m

Ultra-realistic AI robot Ai-Da is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig. Ben Stansall / AFP/File
Ultra-realistic AI robot Ai-Da is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig. Ben Stansall / AFP/File

A portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing became the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction, fetching $1,320,000 on Thursday.
The 2.2 meter (7.5 feet) portrait by "Ai-Da", the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist, smashed pre-sale expectations of $180,000 when it went under the hammer at London auction house Sotheby's Digital Art Sale, said AFP.
"Today's record-breaking sale price for the first artwork by a humanoid robot artist to go up for auction marks a moment in the history of modern and contemporary art and reflects the growing intersection between A.I. technology and the global art market," said the auction house.
The ultra-realistic robot, one of the most advanced in the world, is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig.
Ai-Da is named after Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer and was devised by Aidan Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art.
"The greatest artists in history grappled with their period of time, and both celebrated and questioned society's shifts," said Meller.
“Ai-Da Robot as technology, is the perfect artist today to discuss the current developments with technology and its unfolding legacy," he added.
Ai-Da generates ideas through conversations with members of the studio, and suggests creating an image of Turing during a discussion about "A.I. for good".
The robot was then asked what style, color, content, tone and texture to use, before using cameras in its eyes to look at a picture of Turing and create the painting.
Meller led the team that created Ai-Da with artificial intelligence specialists at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham in England.
Meller said Turing, who made his name as a World War II codebreaker, mathematician and early computer scientist, had raised concerns about the use of AI in the 1950s.
The artwork's "muted tones and broken facial planes" seemingly suggested "the struggles Turing warned we will face when it comes to managing AI", he said.
Ai-Da's works were "ethereal and haunting" and "continue to question where the power of AI will take us, and the global race to harness its power", he added.