🕶️ TikTok’s algorithm fight is now a Washington–Beijing showdown

A full season recap of this year’s tech layoffs—spanning public giants and VC-fueled darlings—breaks down where, when, and how jobs have been trimmed month by month in 2025. A mix of cost “restructuring” PR tap dances and boards rethinking their pandemic-fueled hiring sprees has left a trail of pink slips from Seattle to Bangalore.

For founders, the carnage means talent is suddenly everywhere—if you can hire and not just “advise” in exchange for badges and startup swag. Investors are watching who keeps scaling responsibly and who’s just putting out fires with PowerPoint decks. With execs still prepping for “uncertain macro conditions,” winter might last longer than a Netflix docuseries arc.

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ByteDance is reportedly preparing to hand over its prized “special sauce”—the TikTok algorithm—to a U.S. buyer, with a deal close to the finish line as soon as this week.

Whoever lands this code isn’t just buying teenager attention spans; they’re snagging the heart of a user engagement engine that’s rewired the ad business and turbocharged content discovery. The rumored sale could set a wild precedent for how government pressure untangles global tech IP.

For U.S. competitors, this is like inheriting Willy Wonka’s golden ticket—if the U.S. ever decides how to run the factory. If China okays the transfer (a big if), the blueprint for social media’s most addictive mechanic might be unleashed stateside, raising questions about the future of algorithmic sovereignty and the fate of every copycat app in its path.