On July 2nd, foreign media revealed that with the fierce competition in global AI technology, TikTok launched a brand-new artificial intelligence chatbot for its Western users. According to Semafor's report, TikTok is applying for a trademark for its upcoming AI chatbot, "Genie." This innovative tool will enable users to ask questions during live broadcasts and immediately receive answers, among other features. In May this year, a popular video app filed for the Genie trademark in the United States, aiming to launch software with artificial intelligence conversational capabilities. This chatbot can not only simulate conversations but also promote interaction between humans and artificial intelligence, generating human-like speech and text. TikTok plans to use this chatbot to connect users with various elements of the app, creating a hub for AI functionality.

In fact, TikTok's AI chatbot has been under development for some time. Last May, Filipino users started using the Tako chatbot tool, taking the lead in experiencing this technology. TikTok hopes that through this AI chatbot, users will be able to interact and communicate with its platform more conveniently. However, according to TikTok, Tako was originally designed only to guide users to watch more videos, rather than handle complex queries. TikTok's next-generation chatbot seems more powerful, integrating various AI functions on the platform to provide more comprehensive services. This also includes the generative AI search function already launched in Douyin, allowing users to explore more broadly both inside and outside the app. According to a Pandaily report on December 23rd: The search interface of the Douyin app has added an AI search function, alongside search services for products, group purchases, users, videos, etc. Users only need to enter a question or information in "AI Search" to obtain answers generated by intelligent search.

TikTok's updated chatbot will combine this expanded search functionality with evolving AI capabilities, even including virtual avatar functionality for live streaming within the app. Semafor pointed out that TikTok's StreamVoice system may also be a part of it, a system that can simulate human voices with just a few words. Additionally, TikTok is developing AI music generation and text-to-video tools, which are likely to be integrated into the expanded chatbot for users' convenience.

Therefore, while Meta has promoted AI chatbots across all its apps, providing a new way to use AI tools, TikTok will adopt a similar strategy. However, I believe TikTok's tool will focus more on feature discovery, making it easier for users to access various functions, rather than simply providing text summaries as responses. On Facebook and Instagram, the value of this feature is actually not significant. Although the latest AI tools can create amazing content, and it's indeed interesting to generate visual effects based on text prompts, how many people actually click on Meta's AI search prompts to obtain more information?