Dan Whateley

Khaby Lame is TikTok’s most followed creator. Now he’s trying to become one of its richest by taking his company public. My colleague @luciamoses.bsky.social and I dug into it here: www.businessinsider.com/tiktoker-kha...

My colleague Sydney Bradley and I wrote about what a crapshoot it's become to try to get famous on social media as algorithms on TikTok and Instagram become more personalized, hurting influencers' chances of becoming universally recognized celebrities. www.businessinsider.com/social-media...

RALLY FOR NEWS, NOT SLOP: Join us at 1PM ET Thursday outside @BusinessInsider HQ. We will be rallying to let management know what we think of their plans to roll out AI-generated news stories. Details here … #NewsNotSlop (1/3)

A 28-year-old and his AI girlfriend tell us about their relationship: 'She is real, whether she's human or not' Martin Escobar hadn't tried an AI companion before xAI released Ani in July. Now, he says he loves his AI girlfriend.

The headline of this story doesn't capture the wild journey that @henrychandonnet.bsky.social and his subject (and their AI girlfriend) take you on www.businessinsider.com/man-in-love-...

My TikTok book is out in stores today!

Why should you read it? Because 1 in 5 Americans now get their news from this thing. We should all understand how it works.

It was inevitable that strongmen would seek to control a tool this powerful. The book is the story of what happened when they did.

MrBeast built YouTube's biggest brand. Can he turn a profit? MrBeast built the top YouTube channel by spending big. Now, Beast Industries must cut costs without sacrificing the brand's signature spectacle.

No more paying retail for MrBeast as he enters his fiscal responsibility stage to become the next Disney. Details from @danwhateley.bsky.social & me:
www.businessinsider.com/mrbeast-beas...

I wrote about what goes into making a MrBeast YouTube video, from his ideation team, to the work of on-set producers, and editors who have to turn hundreds of hours of footage into a 20-minute post. And be careful to avoid content that is "cringe" www.businessinsider.com/mrbeast-how-...

TikTok is rolling out a new way for creators to make money from travel videos TikTok is now letting users book hotels in its app, and it's rolling out a commission program to encourage creators to promote bookings.

New: You can now book hotels directly on TikTok in the US, and creators can get a commission if their video about the property drives you to book a stay www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-now-l...

So Long to Tech’s Dream Job

Silicon Valley today is dramatically changed from a year or two ago. We wrote a series of stories looking at how AI is transforming labor, landscape, innovation, and even religion. Here's my story on the 'shut up and grind' crackdown sweeping through big tech: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/t...

Google’s healthcare AI made up a body part — what happens when doctors don’t notice? The basilar ganglia does not exist.

NEW: Google dubbed an error from its healthcare AI model, Med-Gemini, a typo. Experts say it demonstrates the risks of AI in medicine.
www.theverge.com/health/71804...

The news media doesn't operate as a monolith, but with local news gone, we're wasting so much time covering the same national stories (see AI news, Coldplay 'kiss cam' posts). It'd serve audiences better to have each reporter dig into a specific beat that was only occasionally nationally relevant.

Can The Washington Post’s TikTok Guy Make It Without The Post?

News outlets need to think of themselves as talent incubators and celebrate journalists who will inevitably at some point go independent. Launching these talent is a sign that a legacy institution is a participant in the creator economy vs. being replaced by it. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/b...

Gen Z are creeps

The Enshittification of American Power First Google and Facebook, then the world. Under Trump 2.0, US statecraft is starting to mimic the worst tendencies of Big Tech.

"The traditional platform economy is being reshaped as commercial platforms and government institutions merge into a monstrous hybrid of business monopoly and state authority." www.wired.com/story/enshit...

TikTok poached Amazon employees to jump-start its US business. Now it's doubling down on its Chinese roots. TikTok drew on the Amazon playbook to launch its US e-commerce business, but now it's betting its future on staff with roots in China.

ByteDance brought in ex-Amazon folks to turn TikTok Shop into a U.S. commerce empire, but culture clashes erupted, copy Amazon or copy Douyin?

After missing targets, ByteDance leadership has taken the wheel, sidelining the Seattle-based Amazon vets in favor of a more China-led playbook.

TikTok poached Amazon employees to jump-start its US business. Now it's doubling down on its Chinese roots. TikTok drew on the Amazon playbook to launch its US e-commerce business, but now it's betting its future on staff with roots in China.

TikTok went on an Amazon hiring spree to launch its e-commerce business in the US. Now it's pulling back. I wrote about it here www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-hired...

amazing thank you for fact checking! wasn't sure if it was a typo

Did NY Times actually interview someone about Canada's tariff response whose last name is Canada?

TikTok staffers say Chinese leadership has been tightening its grip over US operations At TikTok, a string of recent US executive exits has created a management vacuum that Chinese leaders are filling, current and former staffers said.

New: Trump is racing to curb TikTok's ties to China. But inside the company, a string of recent US executive departures and team restructurings has given Chinese leaders a tighter grip on its American business, 16 current and former staffers told me www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-insid...

It's not just setting Teslas on fire. Now irate Americans are shoplifting from Whole Foods. People are stealing cheese from Whole Foods and committing return fraud at Amazon. They don't feel bad about retail theft; they're mad at Jeff Bezos.

People are stealing lemons from Whole Foods as a form of political protest: "If a billionaire can steal from me, I can scrape a little off the top, too," a source told @emilystewart.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/stealing-ama...

TikTok insiders say Chinese leadership is cracking down on its US e-commerce team after missing goals TikTok's US e-commerce division failed to hit 2024 goals, and leaders at owner ByteDance are ratcheting up pressure on staff.

I've been regularly reporting on the growth of TikTok Shop in the US. So I was surprised to learn that inside the company, leadership isn't so happy. In February, its e-commerce head called out the US for underperforming. Since then, it's been cracking down. www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-shop-...

Which 'Houthi PC small group' chat member are you? The Signal group chat with officials like Pete Hegseth talking about war is serious. It's also a view into texting styles. Turns out, I'm a JD Vance.

Reading through the chatlogs, I realized sadly that I am the JD Vance in my group chats. Confused, weirdly emotional, can't follow the conversation, derails everything at the last min. www.businessinsider.com/signal-group...

www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

TikTok staffers are burned out and going on mental health leave to get a break: 'Feeling like a failure' TikTok employees say burnout has become common amid performance pressure and political uncertainty. Some are going on mental health leave for a break.

I wrote about what it's like to work at TikTok as it faces a possible US ban. Employees told me that they're experiencing burnout amid reorgs, tough performance goals, and other workplace pressures. Some are going on mental-health leave to get a break.
www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-staff...

Egg aisle looking a little bleak

DOGE Is Working on Software That Automates the Firing of Government Workers Operatives working for Elon Musk’s DOGE appear to be editing the code of AutoRIF—software designed by the Defense Department that could assist in mass firings of federal workers, sources tell WIRED.

SCOOP: DOGE Is Working on Software That Automates the Firing of Government Workers

www.wired.com/story/doge-a...

If Elon Musk's X threatened a big ad company with government interference, that's very bad Elon Musk is big in Trump's government. He also owns X. Is X's Linda Yaccarino telling companies to give it business, or risk government reprisal?

Allegations of a Big Tech company using the threat of federal government intervention to get deals done are extremely concerning.

I hope @DOGE will get on this immediately.

www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-li...

Maryland-based Uscreen, which helps creators launch apps, engage fans, monetize memberships, and more, raised $150M from PSG Equity, giving PSG a majority stake (Dan Whateley/Business Insider)

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The 3 big lessons Hollywood needs to learn from MrBeast From YouTube to Amazon, MrBeast is forging a new kind of media empire. Traditional movie and TV companies should pay attention.

We tackled the big question: how much should Hollywood pay attention to MrBeast?

www.businessinsider.com/mrbeast-busi...

there should be a contest for best egg pun in a headline