Samantha Dorisca

While the Supreme Court appears likely to uphold a ban on TikTok, President-elect Donald Trump seems to have different plans. TikTok Ban On Sunday, Jan. 19, the app is expected to be banned in the United States under the contingency that its parent company, ByteDance, does not follow a mandate to sell the app to a U.S.-based company, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. “On January 19th, as I understand it, we shut down,” TikTok lawyer Noel Francisco said in January hearing with the Supreme Court, per NPR. What’s The Issue? The potential TikTok ban is a result of concerns related to user data and the spreading of misinformation. However, TikTok, which has more than 170 million active users, argues this is in violation of the U.S. First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech. “The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” TikTok previously said in a...

FICO is partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to educate the next generation of data scientists. According to a news release, the global analytic software company is bringing back its FICO® Educational Analytics Challenge for the second year. This will give students the opportunity to engage with real-world challenges in artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics, inspiring them to develop innovative solutions. This year’s challenge will center on empowering students to combat payment transaction fraud by tasking them with developing a robust fraud detection model. Students will be supported by Dr. Scott Zoldi, chief analytics officer at FICO, and his team of data scientists, who will also teach and mentor participants. Additionally, they will be given financial assistance and resources for internship opportunities. The FICO® Educational Analytics Challenge will expand to the following educational institutions in Spring 2025: F. Drake State Community...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has increasingly blurred the line between truth and fiction. For example, deepfake technology is the creation of a video, audio, or image via machine learning that draws inspiration from a real person, as the U.S. Government Accountability Officer mentions. Examples of this include a fake Kamala Harris presidential campaign video that Elon Musk shared in July 2024 with his millions of followers on X. The footage included Harris labeling herself as a “DEI hire” and sharing negative remarks about President Joe Biden. “I, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate,” she said in the altered clip. The video amassed 131 million views, according to NBC News. Notably, it violated Musk’s own policies for X—acquired by him in 2022—which state, “You may not share synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm.” Deepfake technologies have...

Apple is on the lookout for bright developers. The tech giant will soon be jumpstarting its 2025 Swift Student Challenge, which was created to empower rising developers, creators, and entrepreneurs. Its website mentions they will be tasked with scaling their ideas into an application leveraging tools that include Swift Playgrounds and Xcode. Previous winners include Keitaro Kawahara of Japan (PuzzlePix), Ruoshan Li of China (Deep Blue Tangram), and University of Alabama at Birmingham student AJ Nettles, who submitted an application named CryptOh. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, his app includes an interactive guide that explains the importance of password security and serves as a password manager and generator. “I wanted to make it easier for people to store their passwords and not have them on a random sticky note on the edge of their computer,” he told AFROTECH™. Nettles was among the 50 Distinctive Winners out of 350 winners of the challenge in 2024, and he was able to meet...

The Supreme Court upholds the U.S. bill that would essentially ban TikTok. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the Court demonstrated that it was “likely” to rule in favor of the ban on the application owned by ByteDance. A ban would result in the app no longer being available in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, and over time U.S. users who have already downloaded the app would no longer be able to make system updates. TikTok has said the app would be wiped from phones if the ban is enforced. The Supreme Court’s stance supports a bipartisan bill that had been signed in April 2024 by President Joe Biden requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok to a U.S.-based company or face a ban of the app, according to NPR. There were national security concerns by the president and Congress surrounding China’s data access and the spreading of misinformation. TikTok is not in favor of the ban that would go into effect Sunday, Jan. 19, as its owners believe a ban restricts free speech. “The Supreme...

Mellody Hobson is exiting her board role at Starbucks. Hobson is well regarded for her efforts at Ariel Investments, a global value-based asset management firm, where she is responsible for management, strategic planning, and growth beyond research and portfolio management as co-CEO and president, her LinkedIn mentions . In 2021, Hobson launched Ariel Alternatives, LLC, leading to a $1.45 billion raise for its private equity fund, Project Black. This initiative aims to support both non-minority-owned middle-market companies and those currently owned by Black and Latino entrepreneurs that generate $100 million to $1 billion in revenue, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. With funding, these companies would then be expected to transform into certified minority business enterprises of scale to serve as Tier 1 suppliers to the Fortune 500. Hobson has also been tied to various corporate boardrooms. She was a board member of the Estée Lauder Companies and chairman of the board of DreamWorks...

There is still optimism surrounding the future of creators amid the looming TikTok ban.

Kyrie Irving had quite the year on the online marketplace StockX.

According to a landing page from The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 17, titled “Responsibility of Governing Boards Regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives,” on June 14, 2023. The bill restricts diversity, equity, and inclusion offices, as well as the programs, activities, and trainings across public institutions of higher education. It went into effect in January 2024.

Meta has released an alternative to CapCut. The popular video-editing app was temporarily shut down the night of Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, following a TikTok ban. As AFROTECH™ previously reported TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, had been mandated to sell its app to a company based in the United States or it would be banned. The U.S. had concerns over the spreading of misinformation and China’s possible access to user data . ByteDance has maintained a stance that it will not sell TikTok, and hours before the ban was to become active, several of its apps were removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The ban officially went into effect on Jan. 19 and impacted ByteDance’s subsidiaries such as TikTok, Lemon8, Marvel Snap, Lark, Hypic, and CapCut, USA Today notes. Apple shared in a statement on its website: “Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps developed by ByteDance Ltd . and its subsidiaries — including TikTok,...