Why Everyone Is ‘Becoming Chinese’ On TikTok - Week in Tech
TechStuff
iHeartPodcasts
4.3 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 23 January 2026
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
You’re meeting us at a ‘very Chinese time in our lives’ and today’s episode is no exception — it’s all about China. First, Oz explains China’s attempt to claw a Singaporean AI company, Manus, back from Meta. And why Chinese customs are rejecting NVIDIA H200 chips. Is China fighting back? Then, Karah fills us in on why everyone on TikTok is saying they are Chinese. Finally, humans fold laundry for hours while humanoid robots just watch, TikTok launches a new app for microdramas and Silicon Valley is hiring ‘cracked’ engineers.
Additional Reading:
- China Is Investigating Meta’s Acquisition of the AI Start-Up Manus | The New York Times
- China blocks Nvidia H200 AI chips that US government cleared for export | The Guardian
- TikTok Shows Americans In Their ‘Chinese Era’ of Health Habits | Bloomberg
- In Chinese data factories, workers teach humanoid robots boring tasks | Rest Of World
- TikTok quietly launches a microdrama app called 'PineDrama' | TechCrunch
- Forget Vibe Coders: ‘Cracked Engineers’ Are All the Rage in Tech | The Information
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. |
| 0:18.6 | From Collideroscope and IHart Podcasts, this is Tech Stuff. |
| 0:22.3 | I'm Osvaloshen. |
| 0:23.1 | And I'm Kara Price. |
| 0:24.4 | A handful of stories stood out to us this week, and they have one thing in common, China. |
| 0:29.4 | First, why Chinese regulators are investigating a deal between meta and an AI company based in Singapore, |
| 0:36.4 | and why everyone on TikTok is drinking hot water, |
| 0:39.5 | eating dim sum, and coming out as Chinese. |
| 0:42.7 | Then, a few other things that caught our eye this week, |
| 0:45.7 | including a type of factory work where humans are folding laundry for hours, |
| 0:50.7 | while humanoid robots watch. |
| 0:53.4 | Then, TikTok wants more of your attention, this time in a new app hosting microdramas like Love at First Bite. |
| 1:00.9 | And finally, Silicon Valley's new favorite hire is a cracked engineer. |
| 1:05.6 | We'll explain what that means. |
| 1:07.0 | All of that on the week in tech. |
| 1:08.9 | It's Friday, January 23rd. |
| 1:12.5 | Hello, Kara. |
| 1:13.7 | Hello, Ozzy. |
| 1:15.7 | How much time do you spend thinking about animal intelligence? |
| 1:19.4 | I mean, I spend enough time thinking about animals. |
| 1:22.0 | Yeah? |
| 1:22.4 | Yeah, not animal intelligence. |
... |
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