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Two months before the Olympics are scheduled to begin in Paris, the global agency tasked with policing doping in sports is facing a growing crisis as it fends off allegations it helped cover up the positive tests of elite Chinese swimmers who went on to compete — and win medals — at the last Summer Games. The allegations are particularly vexing for the World Anti-Doping Agency, which has long billed itself as the gold standard in the worldwide movement for clean sports, because they raise the specter that the agency — and by extension the entire system set up to try to keep the Olympics clean — cannot be trusted. Athletes are openly questioning whether WADA can be relied upon to do its core job of ensuring there will be a level playing field in Paris, where some of the same Chinese swimmers are favorites to win more medals. And in recent days, pressure on WADA has increased significantly, particularly from the United States, which is one of the agency’s chief funders, and as new questions have emerged about WADA’s appointment of an independent prosecutor to investigate the allegations, and whether WADA has provided an accurate account to the public about the appointment, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The New York Times.

Persons: —, specter, WADA Organizations: Doping Agency, The New York Times Locations: Paris, United States

☆ How much TikTok pays employees in the US, from data scientists to software engineers, according to salary data
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Ashley Rodriguez | Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +109 min

Some examples of salary offers for corporate functions include:AdvertisementAccountant, Expense Management : $73,000: $73,000 HR Business Partner : $127,680 median; ranging from $90,000 to $182,880: $127,680 median; ranging from $90,000 to $182,880 HR Specialist: $114,000 median; ranging from $85,000 to $170,000DesignEmployees on the design team "shape the visual representation" of TikTok's products and business, creating "unique designs that are not just visually appealing, but also express the aesthetic of our brand," the company wrote. : $320,000: $320,000 Android Software Engineer, TikTok Monetization : $210,000: $210,000 Android Software Engineer, TikTok Privacy : $190,000: $190,000 Android Software Engineer, TikTok Social : $126,640 median; ranging from $65,000 to $288,000: $126,640 median; ranging from $65,000 to $288,000 Android Software Engineer, TikTok User Growth : $227,000 median; ranging from $221,000 to $233,000: $227,000 median; ranging from $221,000 to $233,000 Applied Machine Learning Engineer : $273,340 median; ranging from $180,000 to $306,000: $273,340 median; ranging from $180,000 to $306,000 Applied Machine Learning Engineer, Recommendation : $190,000: $190,000 AR Effects Interactive Engineer : $125,000: $125,000 AR Software Engineer : $125,000: $125,000 Audio Engineer : $75,000: $75,000 Backend Engineer : $128,000: $128,000 Backend Engineer, Ads Platform : $172,000 median; ranging from $125,000 to $240,000: $172,000 median; ranging from $125,000 to $240,000 Backend Engineer, Content Ecosystem : $222,360: $222,360 Backend Engineer, Lark Innovation : $160,000: $160,000 Backend Engineer, Machine Learning : $157,680 median; ranging from $157,680 to $175,000: $157,680 median; ranging from $157,680 to $175,000 Backend Engineer, Risk Systems : $295,000 median; ranging from $150,000 to $320,000: $295,000 median; ranging from $150,000 to $320,000 Backend Engineer, TikTok Ads Creative and Ecosystem : $250,000: $250,000 Backend Engineer, TikTok Ads Creativity and Ecosystem : $207,500 median; ranging from $175,000 to $240,000: $207,500 median; ranging from $175,000 to $240,000 Backend Engineer, TikTok Eng. : $220,000 median; ranging from $160,000 to $285,000 0 #NUM! Software Engineer, Computer Vision : $165,000 median; ranging from $165,000 to $200,000: $165,000 median; ranging from $165,000 to $200,000 Software Engineer, Computer Vision, Intelligent Creation : $200,000 median; ranging from $200,000 to $265,000: $200,000 median; ranging from $200,000 to $265,000 Software Engineer, Core Services : $204,000 median; ranging from $125,000 to $244,680: $204,000 median; ranging from $125,000 to $244,680 Software Engineer, Core Service, Application Security : $129,680: $129,680 Software Engineer, CRM : $175,000 median; ranging from $125,000 to $300,555: $175,000 median; ranging from $125,000 to $300,555 Software Engineer, Data Access Team : $230,000: $230,000 Software Engineer, Data Mining : $169,680: $169,680 Software Engineer, Data Mining USDS : $182,400: $182,400 Software Engineer, Data Platform : $186,000 median; ranging from $170,000 to $216,880: $186,000 median; ranging from $170,000 to $216,880 Software Engineer, Data Security and Compliance : $180,000: $180,000 Software Engineer, Database Kernel Development : $130,000 median; ranging from $128,000 to $220,000: $130,000 median; ranging from $128,000 to $220,000 Software Engineer, Distributed Storage System : $285,000 median; ranging from $180,000 to $285,000: $285,000 median; ranging from $180,000 to $285,000 Software Engineer, Engineering Productivity : $195,000: $195,000 Software Engineer, Front-End : $147,000: $147,000 Software Engineer, Front-End, Ads Technology : $125,000: $125,000 Software Engineer, Full Stack : $180,000: $180,000 Software Engineer, Full Stack, Ads Technology : $147,500 median; ranging from $125,000 to $170,000: $147,500 median; ranging from $125,000 to $170,000 Software Engineer, Full Stack, E-Commerce Engineering and Architecture : $205,000: $205,000 Software Engineer, Full Stack, Vertical Solutions : $220,000: $220,000 Software Engineer, Global E-Commerce Customer Business : $195,000 median; ranging from $133,240 to $225,000: $195,000 median; ranging from $133,240 to $225,000 Software Engineer, Global Payment : $161,000 median; ranging from $155,000 to $215,000: $161,000 median; ranging from $155,000 to $215,000 Software Engineer, Gov. and Experience, TikTok E-Commerce : $241,540 median; ranging from $219,680 to $263,400: $241,540 median; ranging from $219,680 to $263,400 Software Engineer, GPU Management : $128,000 $128,000 $128,000 0 #NUM!

Persons: —, It's, TikTok, it's, ByteDance, TikTok Eng, Tiktok Organizations: Service, Business, US, of Foreign Labor, Live, US Data Security, Security, US Department of Labor, Corporate, Employees, TikTok, Tech, Commerce, Marketing, Staff, Trust, Safety, Brand, Android Software, Computer, Global Agency Relations, Global Security Technology, Infrastructure Engineering, Android, Machine, Interactive, Systems, Data Systems, Engineer, Commerce Data Intelligence, Commerce Logistics, Chain, Logistics, Media, US Tech Services, Big, Business Intelligence, Protection, Network Security, Business Systems, Cash, Cloud, Networking Software, Public, Tech Service, Technology, Technology Systems, Infrastructure, Network Business, NA, Defense, US Tech Service, Analytics, Research, Mining, Solutions, Tech Services, Pico, Forensics, Development, Control, Financial, CRM, Global, Learning, Traffic, TCMS, Communications, Graphics, Monetization Technology, Management, Products, Resources, IDC Logistics, DevOps, IOS, GNE Global, Software, Procurement, Commerce Global, Strategic, Global Business, Merchant, Mobile Security, Mobile Software, Multimedia Research, Regional, Sound Engineering, Professional Services, Community, Relations, Real, Commerce Trading, Creative, Enterprise, Virtual Network, Storage, Data Security, Smart, Finance, ML Systems, Cloud Infrastructure, TikTok US Tech Services, Monetization Tech, Learning Systems, Core Services, Core Service, Data Mining, Engineering, Commerce Engineering, Mobile, Revenue Management Locations: ByteDance, TikTok, TikTok Commerce, America, Mexico, Americas, Commerce

The proposal to classify AI systems by four levels of risk — from minimal to unacceptable — was essentially intended as product safety legislation. That changed with the boom in generative AI, which sparked wonder by composing music, creating images and writing essays resembling human work. Foundation models give generative AI systems such as ChatGPT the ability to create something new, unlike traditional AI, which processes data and completes tasks using predetermined rules. Resistance to government rules for these AI systems came from an unlikely place: France, Germany and Italy. “The race should be for the best AI regulations, not the first AI regulations."

Persons: —, Bard chatbot, “ Rather, won’t, ”, Nick Reiners, “ there’s, Reiners, Sam Altman, Thierry Breton, ” Reiners, Kent Walker, Iverna McGowan, McGowan, Altman, OpenAI, Alpha, it's, ” Dragos, “, “ We’re Organizations: European Union, Eurasia Group, European Commission, Microsoft, Mistral, Elon, Center for Democracy and Technology, EU Locations: European, U.S, China, Brussels, France, Germany, Italy, Europe, German, Romanian

☆ China says no unusual pathogens found after WHO queries respiratory outbreaks
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The WHO had asked China for more information on Wednesday after groups including the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) reported clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in north China. No unusual pathogens have been detected in the capital of Beijing and the northeastern province of Liaoning. The U.N. health agency had also asked China for further information about trends in the circulation of known pathogens and the burden on healthcare systems. WHO China said it was "routine" to request information on increases in respiratory illnesses and reported clusters of pneumonia in children from member states, such as China. The WHO said that while it was seeking additional information, it recommended that people in China follow measures to reduce the risk of respiratory illness.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, pneumoniae, Ben Cowling, Deena Beasley, Andrew Silver, Jennifer Rigby, Emma Farge, Urvi, Robert Birsel, Miyoung Kim, Josie Kao Organizations: REUTERS, World Health Organization, WHO, International, National Health Commission, FTV News, Hong Kong University, Health Commission, Xinhua, Influenza, Thomson Locations: China, Beijing, Liaoning, Wuhan, WHO China, Taiwan, Los Angeles, Shanghai, London, Geneva, Bengaluru

☆ Spotify plans to split with its longtime ad agency as it looks beyond music streaming for growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Spotify is quietly looking for a new ad agency to handle its media planning and buying as it takes steps to broaden its business beyond music and podcasts and push further into performance marketing. The audio streaming company is planning to part with its global agency of record since 2017 , ad holding company IPG Mediabrands' UM, according to two knowledgeable sources. Spotify shared a statement saying: "Today, UM is Spotify's agency of record. In October, Spotify posted an operating profit, its first since 2021, as user and advertising growth along with price hikes boosted results. Spotify has since pivoted away from heavy spending on podcasts and made some of its shows available on other platforms to spur audience growth.

Persons: Daniel Ek, Publicis, Joe Rogan, Michelle Obama, Dawn Ostroff Organizations: Spotify, UM, Business Locations: North America

☆ Insiders question WPP CEO Mark Read's bounceback plan after chaotic period of mergers, account losses, and a stock market slump
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

"OMD and Publicis are winning all the meaningful pitches," said a former WPP agency executive, referring to competitors Omnicom and Publicis Groupe. Further, GroupM is just one of the many parts of WPP's business that Read needs to fix. Insiders describe a whirlwind of change but confusion about the bigger visionA current WPP agency executive said they were frustrated by what they described as a vacuum of information about the bigger strategy for WPP. Getty Images"It feels like something bigger has to happen now," said a current WPP agency executive. The ongoing pitch for Volkswagen's $4 billion global media business underscores the tremendous amount of resources needed to win the proposal, and the huge prize at stake.

Persons: Christian Juhl, San, GroupM, Publicis, Kirk McDonald, McDonald didn't, Ogilvy, it's, Thomas Singlehurst, Juhl, Mark Read's, It's, Read, Martin Sorrell, AKQA, Sard, Wunderman Thompson, J.Walter Thompson, Joanne Wilson, Andrew Scott, Roberto Quarta, Angela Ahrendts, Craig Barritt, —, haven't, Clark, Arthur Sadoun, WPP's Read, Michael Farmer Organizations: WPP, Publicis, L'Oreal, Omnicom Media Group, Pfizer, North, GroupM, Verizon, Discovery, Adobe, Citigroup, Shanghai, reined, AKQA Group, Finsbury Glover, Partners, Young, Rubicam, London Stock Exchange, Brexit, Getty, Burberry, Apple, The New School Industry, VW, Groupe, Epsilon Locations: San Francisco, China, EssenceMediaCom, Kansas, Kansas City, New York, Mayfair , London, New York City

☆ Companies turn to crisis PR firms when money, reputation is at risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Eva Rothenberg | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“A scandal breaking on a Tuesday is very different than one breaking on a Friday, because on Tuesday you’re going to have the rest of the week for stories to drop and snowball. You need to stick with the stance you’re taking, and it might mean you’re going to lose a subset of your audience. Dylan Mulvaney/InstagramThe most prominent case study experts pointed to was the Bud Light public relations fiasco in April, when America’s erstwhile No. “Oftentimes, now, the bigger risk is the social media spread.”“Prior to social media, people felt less empowered to share their opinions,” said Jennings. Often for crisis communication, you’re not trying to counter the reality, you’re trying to counter the perception.”However, as much as social media stokes the flames of PR crisis, the platforms can be effective mitigation tools.

Persons: “, ”, Ben Kaplan, ’ ”, Lauren Jennings, Alison Brod, Jennings, Rather, Evan Nierman, Deborah Hileman, Kaplan, we’re, We’re, Nierman, Dylan Mulvaney, Bud Light, Bud, influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Mulvaney, Bud Light’s, Brendan Whitworth, ” …, you’re, Johnson, ” “, stokes, that’s Organizations: CNN, Top Agency, Alison Brod Marketing, Communications, Institute for Crisis Management, InBev, Anheuser, Busch, Facebook, YouTube Locations: “

☆ Netflix nabs another top Snap exec to build its advertising business
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Netflix has drafted another top Snap alum to help build the streamer's new ads tier. David Roter joined from Snap, where he worked with now-Netflix ad leaders Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor. Netflix has drafted another top Snap alum to help build the streamer's new ads tier. David Roter has followed fellow Snap alums Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor to the streamer. The streamer conceded in its last earnings call that its ad business is still small but that it sees the business eventually generating 10% of revenue.

Persons: David Roter, Jeremi Gorman, Peter Naylor, Roter, Naylor, Gorman, It's, execs Organizations: Netflix, Global Agency, Brand, Twitter, ESPN

☆ EU announces deal with Pfizer, others to reserve vaccines for future pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Maggie Fick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - The European Commission has contracted Pfizer (PFE.N) and several European companies to reserve capacity to make up to 325 million vaccines per year in case of a future global health emergency, it said on Friday. The European Commission said in a statement announcing the deal that the COVID pandemic showed that Europe needs to be better prepared for future health emergencies. But vaccine equity activists said the EU risked a repeat of what the World Health Organization dubbed "vaccine apartheid" during COVID-19. The Commission has selected Pfizer's plants in Ireland and Belgium to reserve capacity to produce mRNA vaccines. It selected Spanish companies Reig Jofre (RJFE.MC) and Laboratorios Hipra SA to reserve capacity for protein-based vaccines and Bilthoven Biologicals B.V. of the Netherlands for vector-based vaccines.

Persons: Mohga Kamal, Reig, Maggie Fick, Jennifer Rigby, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: European Commission, Pfizer, Reuters, EU, World Health Organization, People’s Vaccine, Laboratorios Hipra SA, World Health, Thomson Locations: Europe, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, London

☆ A new type of creator is taking over Snapchat: Giving fans constant access to their lives, posting hundreds of times a day, and raking in cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Marta Biino | Dan Whateley | Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"Even if it's a day where I'm super tired and I'm not doing anything, I'll be like, 'Guys, I am doing nothing all day. Compared to YouTube videos, or even content for short-video platforms like TikTok, Snapchat stories require less effort to produce. "The privacy thing is kind of something you take with being a content creator," Leilani Green, a beauty and makeup creator with 845,000 subscribers on Snapchat, told Insider. Rick Lox, a food creator with around 215,000 Snapchat subscribers, said he sets dedicated times in the morning, afternoon, and evening to upload stories. TikTok and YouTube's attempts at sharing in-stream ad revenue with creators for short videos has produced measly payouts thus far.

Persons: Snapchat, Influencer Alyssa McKay, I'm, McKay, she's, Truman, Eloise Head, —, Alyssa McKay, Jacques Slade, Dave Roter, Noam Galai, Rick, Francis Roberts, " Roberts, YouTuber David Dobrik, Brandom Baum, monetization, Matthew, that's, it's, Jim Louderback Organizations: Inc, Snap's, YouTube Locations: Snapchat, New York

"Even if it's a day where I'm super tired and I'm not doing anything, I'll be like, 'Guys, I am doing nothing all day. Compared to YouTube videos, or even content for short-video platforms like TikTok, Snapchat stories require less effort to produce. "The privacy thing is kind of something you take with being a content creator," Leilani Green, a beauty and makeup creator with 845,000 subscribers on Snapchat, told Insider. Snapchat may be incentivizing creators to broadcast every minute of their lives, which isn't for everyone. TikTok and YouTube's attempts at sharing in-stream ad revenue with creators for short videos has produced measly payouts thus far.

☆ Bat lands worldwide are besieged, seeding risk of a new pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

This collision – bats and humans competing for resources on territory long the domain of the bats – could trigger the next pandemic. As people destroy bat habitats worldwide, they are unwittingly helping bat-borne viruses mutate, multiply, and infect other species, including homo sapiens. For millennia, bat viruses lurked across the forests of West Africa and in other undisturbed parts of the world but posed little threat to humanity. They’re potent proliferators: Some roost tightly together and in close quarters with other bat species. Each of the bat viruses analyzed by Reuters has epidemic potential, according to the World Health Organization.

☆ Inside the Wild World of Celebrity Keynote Speakers: Drugs, Alcohol
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( David Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +31 min

"I never saw myself as a speaker, let alone a motivational speaker," Leonard tells me while his assistant irons his jeans. 'When I ramble," Hunter told me, "hit me in the leg!" Every plane had been grounded, including the one stuck on the tarmac with an increasingly inebriated Hunter Thompson trapped inside. But by far the most all-consuming task was booking gigs for Hunter Thompson. Just before a debate with G. Gordon Liddy at Brown University, Hunter demanded that Betsy Berg, whom I now worked alongside at GTN, score him some crystal meth.

☆ Stakeholder Labs sees an opportunity helping companies convert customers into shareholders. Here's how the fintech backed by a Reddit cofounder plans to do it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Paige Hagy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Stakeholder Labs helps businesses identify and engage with retail investors. Stakeholder Labs provides plug-in software that verifies a company's shareholders and measures customer behavior with a goal of driving long-term loyalty. "Not trying to convert that customer into a shareholder is the biggest missed opportunity," Max Goldstein, head of marketing and shareholder experience at Stakeholder Labs, added. Stakeholder Lab's software, called Roundtable, is integrated directly into a company's website or app, allowing customers to self-identify as a shareholder. Stakeholder Labs customers range from small to mid-sized publicly traded companies that tend to be more agile and willing to try new technologies.

☆ This fintech helping companies engage and build loyalty with retail investors just nabbed funding from Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Paige Hagy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Stakeholder Labs helps businesses identify and engage with retail investors. CEO and cofounder Matt Joanou observed the untapped potential of retail investors while at Reddit. This startup wants to help companies engage with their retail investors, and it just got backing from an investor well-versed in building active communities. Stakeholder Labs provides plug-in software that verifies a company's shareholders and measures customer behavior with a goal of driving long-term loyalty. Stakeholder Lab's software, called Roundtable, is integrated directly into a company's website or app, allowing customers to self-identify as a shareholder.

☆ TikTok salaries revealed: How much the company pays for key US jobs in engineering, product, data science, and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Ashley Rodriguez | Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Insider analyzed US work-visa data to gauge salary levels at TikTok and parent company ByteDance. The data show TikTok and ByteDance offered staffers on US work visas $29 an hour to $438,000 a year. The public data show how much the company offered to pay foreign staffers it sought to hire in the US for jobs including product, engineering, and data-science roles. Based on the data, TikTok and ByteDance offered from late 2020 to late 2022 base salaries ranging from $29 per hour to $438,000 per year for various roles. We listed examples of salaries in each division below, followed by a complete list of the jobs included in the data.

☆ TikTok is still hiring despite the tech downturn. Here's how much it pays for hundreds of engineering, marketing, and other US jobs.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Ashley Rodriguez | Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +42 min

Insider analyzed US work-visa data to gauge salary levels at TikTok and parent company ByteDance. The data show TikTok and ByteDance offered staffers on US work visas $30 an hour to $400,000 a year. And TikTok has begun to get into its stride with advertisers who are now taking it more seriously as a marketing platform. Based on the data, TikTok and ByteDance offered from late-2020 to mid-2022 base salaries ranging from $30 per hour to $400,000 per year for various roles. TikTok's median annual base salary was roughly $184,000 per year, based on data from 319 foreign-labor certification applications.

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☆ COVID variants BQ.1, BQ 1.1 make up 16.6% of U.S. cases - CDC
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The variants have spread quickly in the country in the last few weeks, particularly in New York. The CDC said on Friday that BQ.1 last week was estimated to make up 5.8% of circulating variants, while BQ.1.1 had made up 3.6% of all variants. New variants are monitored closely by regulators and vaccine manufacturers in case they start to evade protection offered by current shots. The World Health Organization this week said BQ.1.1 is circulating in at least 29 countries. The BA.5 variant is estimated to made up 62.2% of cases for the week of Oct 22, down from 70.2% in the week of Oct 15.

☆ These 12 behind-the-scenes execs are innovating TikTok's surging ad business, which will soon be worth more than Snap's and Twitter's combined
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Lindsay Rittenhouse | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

TikTok's ad revenue is expected to triple to $11.64 billion this year, and it's building out products aggressively to hit its goal. In fact, if TikTok's ad revenues triple to $11.64 billion this year from 2021, as Insider Intelligence predicts, it will surpass the combined ad revenues of Twitter and Snapchat combined. Gabriela Comazzetto, head of LATAM global business solutionsComazzetto, another Facebook poach, has been overseeing TikTok's ad business in one of its fastest growing regions for just over a year. Shant Oknayan, general manager of METAP global business solutionsOknayan manages the TikTok for Business platform for the METAP region. Sameer Singh, general manager of APAC global business solutionsSingh oversees the TikTok for Business platform across APAC.

☆ TikTok just launched a major offensive to grab advertiser dollars — and these are the top 12 execs who are making the app a major competitor to YouTube and Meta
▼ + stars: | 2022-04-15 | by ( Lindsay Rittenhouse | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

TikTok's ad revenue is expected to triple to $11.64 billion this year, and it's been hiring aggressively to meet that goal. Chandlee spent 12 years at Facebook, where he managed global agency partnerships and client relationships, before joining TikTok in 2019. Monga came from Snap, where she led global agency partnerships and was involved in key presentations and pitches. Shant Oknayan, general manager of METAP global business solutionsOknayan manages the TikTok for Business platform for the METAP region. Sameer Singh, general manager of APAC global business solutionsSingh oversees the TikTok for Business platform across APAC.

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