The People’s Bid for TikTok proposes letting users benefit from targeted ads

The People’s Bid for TikTok, a consortium organized by Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt, wants to let users take control of their personal data.

At SXSW, McCourt and investor Kevin O’Leary elaborated on their vision to buy TikTok, proposing an interesting idea where TikTok users would be compensated for their role in refining the algorithm based on their preferences. O’Leary explained that if users encounter a personalized ad and buy the product, they should receive a cut from the ad sale.

AI is a frenemy

AI is already popping off on the first day of the tech, music, and film event. Take for instance this talk by Kasley Killam, author of the social health-focused book “The Art and Science of Connection: Why Social Health Is the Missing Key to Living Longer, Healthier, and Happier.”  

She warns that while there may be benefits to using AI to practice social interactions, there is a clear downside for people who use the technology as a replacement to personal relationships.

You can check out the full article here on her interview, but if you’re in a rush here’s the tl;dr: Don’t get too cozy with your AI companion.

‘Agentic AI is like putting your brain in a jar’

At least that’s what Signal President Meredith Whittaker thinks about this new paradigm of computing, where AI performs tasks on users’ behalf. While putting our brains in jars might be tempting on those particularly chaotic days, it does make us vulnerable to privacy and security threats, she cautioned on stage at SXSW. 

What the TechCrunch staff is seeing, hearing, and trying out in Austin

SXSW 2025, the annual consumer tech-meets-music-film-culture-and-comedy conference held in Austin, is here — and this is where you can find all of our live updates. SXSW 2025 kicked off Friday and runs through March 13.

We’ll have folks on the ground through Friday to meet with founders and VCs, catch a show or two, and attend the numerous keynotes and sessions in the tech portion of the show, including with Bluesky, Rivian, Qualcomm, Signal, NASA, Amazon, Disney, Walmart, and Wing — to name a few. And yes, we’ll also be trying out those Waymo robotaxis.

Follow our live updates.