Seeking Alpha’s roundup of statements, announcements, and remarks that could impact the technology sector.
- Meta (META) said it’s testing a new Instagram for TV app that will allow users to view short videos on their TVs.
“Today, we’re starting to test Instagram for TV, which brings reels from your favorite creators to the big screen so you can enjoy them with friends. We heard that watching reels together is more enjoyable, and this test will help us learn which features make that experience work best on TV,” Meta said in a statement.
The app will be made available in the US first through Amazon (AMZN) Fire TV devices. Meta is currently focusing on developing a positive user experience for the product rather than expanding ad sales, according to Tessa Lyons, Instagram’s vice president of product.
“We think we probably have a lot more work to do to really make sure that we’re bringing people the content they love on mobile in a way that really makes sense for them and feels designed for TV,” Lyons told CNBC during an interview.
“That’s where we’re going to be focused in 2026, as well as bringing it to more people and more devices, and, down the line, we’ll certainly think more about monetization,” Lyons added.
- The Trump administration has threatened to retaliate against certain European companies for the EU’s alleged harassment of US service providers operating in the region.
“The European Union and certain EU Member States have persisted in a continuing course of discriminatory and harassing lawsuits, taxes, fines, and directives against US service providers,” the Office of the US Trade Representative said in a lengthy post on X.
“In stark contrast, EU service providers have been able to operate freely in the United States for decades, benefitting from access to our market and consumers on a level playing field,” the USTR said, citing Accenture (ACN), Amadeus (AMADF), Capgemini (CAPMF), DHL (DHLGY), Mistral, Publicis (PUBGY), SAP (SAP), Siemens (SIEGY), and Spotify (SPOT) as examples.
“If the EU and EU Member States insist on continuing to restrict, limit, and deter the competitiveness of US service providers through discriminatory means, the United States will have no choice but to begin using every tool at its disposal to counter these unreasonable measures,” the USTR said, adding that US law allowed for “the assessment of fees or restrictions on foreign services, among other actions.”
The USTR added that the US would “take a similar approach to other countries that pursue an EU-style strategy in this area.”