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Universal Music Group — which owns the rights to superstars including Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish and Drake — threatened to revoke TikTok’s license on Wednesday after the two companies failed to reach a deal on key issues such as artist compensation.

The worlds largest music company wants TikTok to increase payments to its artists, as well as to address the growing trend of using artificial intelligence to create music on the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.

Revoking TikTok’s license, which expires Wednesday, could be a devastating blow for the app as roughly 60% of the videos posted to its platform include music.

“TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay,” UMG said.

“As our negotiations continued, TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth.”

The company did not say how much it was paid in its previous deal or what increase it is seeking from TikTok, which has an estimated 1.5 billion monthly users.

TikTok shot back early Wednesday with its own scathing response, accusing the music company of putting their own greed above the interests of artists and songwriters.

UMG said TikTok only accounts for 1% of its advertising revenue despite its musicians representing eight out of 10 of the most popular bands and singers on the social media site last year.

In an open letter to its artists Tuesday, titled “Why We Must Call Time Out on TikTok,” UMG wrote: “Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music.”

The company added that it was concerned about the growth of artificial intelligence tools used in TikTok videos and their effect on intellectual property, while also griping about the amount of copyright infringement. It also noted the “tidal wave of hate speech, bigotry, bullying and harassment” on the site.

The record giant also alleged that TikTok attempted to intimidate it by “selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists,” while keeping “audience-driving global stars.”

Although TikTok has not responded specifically to the allegation, it did accuse the label of false narrative and rhetoric and pointed out it was able to sign deals with other major music labels in a statement it posted Tuesday on X.

The company signed a music licensing deal with Warner Music Group, which represents Madonna, Lizzo and Ed Sheeran, last year.

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The fact is they have chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent, TikTok added.

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Technology

Super Micro plans to ramp up manufacturing in Europe to capitalize on AI demand

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Super Micro plans to ramp up manufacturing in Europe to capitalize on AI demand

CEO of Supermicro Charles Liang speaks during the Reuters NEXT conference in New York City, U.S., December 10, 2024. 

Mike Segar | Reuters

PARIS — Super Micro plans to increase its investment in Europe, including ramping up manufacturing of its AI servers in the region, CEO Charles Liang told CNBC in an interview that aired on Wednesday.

The company sells servers which are packed with Nvidia chips and are key for training and implementing huge AI models. It has manufacturing facilities in the Netherlands, but could expand to other places.

“But because the demand in Europe is growing very fast, so I already decided, indeed, [there’s] already a plan to invest more in Europe, including manufacturing,” Liang told CNBC at the Raise Summit in Paris, France.

“The demand is global, and the demand will continue to improve in [the] next many years,” Liang added.

Liang’s comments come less than a month after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visited various parts of Europe, signing infrastructure deals and urging the region to ramp up its computing capacity.

Growth to be ‘strong’

Super Micro rode the growth wave after OpenAI’s ChatGPT boom boosted demand for Nvidia’s chips, which underpin big AI models. The server maker’s stock hit a record high in March 2024. However, the stock is around 60% off that all-time high over concerns about its accounting and financial reporting. But the company in February filed its delayed financial report for its 2024 fiscal year, assuaging those fears.

In May, the company reported weaker-than-expected guidance for the current quarter, raising concerns about demand for its product.

However, Liang dismissed those fears. “Our growth rate continues to be strong, because we continue to grow our fundamental technology, and we [are] also expanding our business scope,” Liang said.

“So the room … to grow will be still very tremendous, very big.”

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Politics

US sanctions North Korean tech worker crew over crypto thefts

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US sanctions North Korean tech worker crew over crypto thefts

US sanctions North Korean tech worker crew over crypto thefts

TRM Labs said North Korea is moving away from hacks to focus more on deception-based revenue generation, such as planting IT workers in US companies.

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Environment

China overhauls EV charging: 100,000 ultra-fast public stations by 2027

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China overhauls EV charging: 100,000 ultra-fast public stations by 2027

China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027 – and they’ll all be open to the public.

The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) joint notice, issued on Monday, asks local authorities to put together construction plans for highway service areas and prioritize the ones that see 40% or more usage during holiday travel rushes.

The NDRC notes that China’s ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure needs upgrading as more 800V EVs hit the road. Those high-voltage platforms can handle super-fast charging in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, but only if the charging hardware is up to speed.

China had 31.4 million EVs on the road at the end of 2024 – nearly 9% of the country’s total vehicle fleet. But charging access is still catching up. As of May 2025, there were 14.4 million charging points, or roughly 1 for every 2.2 EVs.

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To keep the grid running smoothly, China wants new chargers to be smart, with dynamic pricing to incentivize off-peak charging and solar and storage to power the charging stations.

To make the business side work, the government is pushing for 10-year leases for charging station operators, and it’s backing the buildout with local government bonds.

The NDRC emphasized that the DC fast chargers built will be open to the public. This is a big deal because a lot of fast chargers in China aren’t. For example, BYD’s new megawatt chargers aren’t open to third-party vehicles.

As of September 2024, China had expanded its charging infrastructure to 11.4 million EV chargers, but only 3.3 million were public.

Read more: California now has nearly 50% more EV chargers than gas nozzles


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