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🟠 Disney Sues ByteDance. Why Now?

🟠 Disney Sues ByteDance. Why Now?

+ US and Taiwan Seal Trade Agreement

February 16, 2026

☕️ Good morning friends,

Today at 8 PM Beijing time it starts: the Chinese Spring Festival Gala.

And besides patriotic songs and funny sketches, this year there's: robots. Lots of robots.

We're tuning in and will deliver the details tomorrow.

In today's issue:

Disney sues ByteDance: AI videos are too realistic
Taiwan deal sealed: 15% tariff, 99% of US goods tariff-free starting now
ByteDance sells gaming: Moonton goes to Saudi Arabia for $6-7 billion

🧧 Enjoy reading and happy Chinese New Year!

Zhipu hits the accelerator: The Chinese AI developer surged 120% to a record HK$496. The company is already planning a secondary listing in Shanghai, signaling confidence in China’s AI rally. Rival Minimax also jumped 40%.

TOP BIT

Disney Sues ByteDance for AI "Raid"

ByteDance's AI video generator Seedance 2.0 caused a stir last week: Users generated videos of Tom Cruise against Brad Pitt, Wolverine against Thanos, Darth Vader clips.

Just days after launch, the biggest Hollywood studios are going to war against the TikTok parent company. Disney accuses the TikTok conglomerate of a "virtual raid."

From Viral to Illegal in 48 Hours

On Thursday, ByteDance launched Seedance 2.0. On Friday, Disney sent the first letter. The accusation:

❝

"ByteDance offers a piracy library of Disney's copyrighted characters, as if the coveted intellectual property were in the public domain."

Other players are also taking legal action:

Paramount: Reports "blatant violations" of brands like South Park, Star Trek, and The Godfather. The AI-generated clips are visually and acoustically barely distinguishable from the originals.
Japan investigates: The Japanese government has launched an official investigation into copyright violations of manga and anime characters (including Detective Conan).

The OpenAI Paradox

Interesting: Disney dealt with OpenAI completely differently. When Sora 2 produced similar Disney videos in September, there was no lawyer's letter – but a deal:

	ByteDance/Seedance	OpenAI/Sora
Disney's Reaction	Cease-and-Desist in 48h	$1 billion investment
Result	Copyright lawsuit threatens	3-year licensing agreement
Access to IP	Blocked	200 Disney characters

The difference: OpenAI asked first. ByteDance didn't.

ByteDance's Emergency Brake

The platform has already reacted: Since Sunday, users "temporarily cannot upload faces of real people as references."

The voice cloning function was also restricted after Chinese users complained that the tool could reconstruct their voices from photos.

📊 All details & data: Business Insider, SCMP, Variety

OUR PARTNER

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Download BELAY’s Guide!

MARKET BIT

U.S. and Taiwan seal trade pact: 15% tariff compromise

The United States and Taiwan have finalized their bilateral trade agreement. Washington confirms a 15% tariff rate on Taiwanese imports, putting Taiwan on par with Japan and South Korea.

🔄 In return, Taiwan commits to lowering or eliminating 99% of its tariffs on U.S. goods and granting preferential market access to American products.

The deal

The U.S. trade deficit with Taiwan rose to $126.9 billion in 2025. Taiwan secured exemptions for more than 2,000 product categories.

Deal optimism: President Lai Ching-te called it a “pivotal moment for Taiwan’s economy” and a “major transformation.”

Taiwan pledged purchases of more than $84 billion in U.S. goods through 2029, including:

$44.4 billion in LNG and crude oil
$15.2 billion in civil aircraft and engines
$25.2 billion in power grid equipment and generators

Non-tariff barriers are also set to be reduced, including in autos, medical devices and pharmaceutical standards.

Market reality

Back in January, Taiwan pledged $250 billion in investments into U.S. production capacity, primarily in semiconductors, energy and AI — including $100 billion from TSMC. Another $250 billion in government-backed investment guarantees are expected to follow.

Washington’s goal: more high-tech production on U.S. soil.
Taipei’s goal: tariff stability and a strategic partnership.

From a small concession to a sweeping demand: The deal positions Taiwan as a key pillar in Washington’s chip strategy against China. Commerce Secretary Lutnick is calling for 40% of Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain to relocate to the U.S., a demand Taipei has labeled “impossible.”

Beijing has sharply criticized the agreement, accusing the U.S. of economically “hollowing out” Taiwan and pressuring the island to shift its core industries abroad.

👉 Full story: Straits Times, CNBC, CNBC

FOUNDERS’ INSIGHTS

❝

"Give me 3 million, I'll give you 30 back."

That's how Jacky (24) pitched to VCs in Shenzhen.

Where does the confidence come from?

He analyzed over 1 million social media comments with ChatGPT and found a problem that millions of dog owners share:
Their dogs are alone at home, and no existing solution really works.

From this, he developed a smart dog toy that can be controlled remotely from anywhere in the world.

Without an integrated camera, because 90% of owners already have a pet cam. Lower costs for the customer, less complexity for him.

👉🏻 The result: Featured at CES 2026 and presented by CNET.

No 5-year plan, but a working product and real user feedback: "In Shenzhen you don't plan five years ahead. You plan for tomorrow."

Here's the full episode:

🍿 YouTube
🎧 Spotify

HIGHLIGHTS

🇨🇳 ByteDance weighs gaming unit sale: The TikTok parent is in advanced talks to sell its gaming subsidiary Moonton to Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group for $6–7 billion. ByteDance acquired the studio behind Mobile Legends: Bang Bangin 2021 for $4 billion. The game has recorded more than 1.5 billion downloads and 110 million monthly active users.

🇪🇺 VW China joint venture sidesteps EU tariffs: The European Commission has accepted a price undertaking from Volkswagen Anhui, exempting its EV exports from anti-subsidy tariffs. It is the first such arrangement since the EU imposed punitive duties on electric vehicles produced in China. The agreement includes minimum price commitments, export caps and local investment pledges, and is seen as a potential blueprint for other China-based manufacturers seeking ways to navigate Europe’s trade barriers.

🇺🇸 Pentagon briefly lists Chinese tech giants as military-linked: The US Department of Defense temporarily added Alibaba, Baidu, BYD and TP-Link to its 1260H list of companies allegedly supporting China’s military. Minutes later, the notice was withdrawn without explanation and marked “unpublished” in the Federal Register. The move briefly pressured the companies’ share prices and has fueled speculation ahead of an expected Trump–Xi meeting in April.

🇮🇳 India plans Taiwan-sized AI “Data City”: Around Visakhapatnam, authorities aim to build a Taiwan-sized “Data City” as a full AI ecosystem within a 100-kilometer radius. According to Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh, the state has secured $175 billion in investment commitments across 760 projects, including $15 billion from Google for its largest AI infrastructure hub outside the US and $11 billion from a joint venture between Reliance, Brookfield and Digital Realty for another major data center project.