“

頭條？沒錯(cuò)，就是那個(gè)我們看新聞的今日頭條。前些天登上了經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人的頭條，這是怎么回事呢？

”

Dancing to their own tune

隨著自己的節(jié)奏起舞

A Chinese news app is making headlines

一款中國(guó)新聞APP上了頭條

【1】WHEN?rumours?swirled?in August that Baidu, a Chinese online-search giant, was buying Toutiao, the?scrappy?news-aggregation?platform reportedly?quipped?in response that reports had mistaken the buyer for the seller. The firm is proud with good reason. Toutiao’s growth since its launch in 2012 has been?stellar: it says it has already drawn 700m users to the personalised?newsfeeds?on its smartphone app. Its valuation has shot up, to $22bn in its latest funding round.

rumour：[?ru:m?(r)] n.流言；傳聞，謠言

swirl：[sw?:rl] v.旋轉(zhuǎn)，打旋；眩暈；盤繞

scrappy：[?skr?pi] adj.混亂的；散亂的

aggregation：[??ɡr?'ɡe??n] n.聚集；集結(jié)；集成

quip：[kw?p] v.說(shuō)俏皮話；托辭 n.妙語(yǔ)；諷刺

stellar：['stel?r] adj.星的；恒星的；優(yōu)秀的；精彩的

newsfeed：[nju?z'fi?d] 新聞推送；新聞傳送干路；新聞供應(yīng)

8月有傳言稱，中國(guó)在線搜索引擎百度將收購(gòu)新聞聚合平臺(tái)今日頭條。好勝的頭條作出了譏諷的回應(yīng)：傳言把買家和賣家弄反了。頭條的這種驕傲是有根據(jù)的。自2012年成立以來(lái)，今日頭條的增長(zhǎng)速度驚人。據(jù)稱，已有7億用戶訂閱了頭條app的個(gè)性化新聞推送。最近的一輪融資后，其估值已經(jīng)高達(dá)220億美元。

［2］Toutiao’s?parent company, Bytedance, is definitely a buyer now. This month it?snapped up?Musical.ly, a lip-syncing?video platform that has?captivated?American teens, for a reported $1bn. It looks like a good match. Musical.ly, based in Shanghai, is the first Chinese firm to build an app that has been so admired in the West; Bytedance, which has developed?sophisticated?artificial-intelligence (AI) technology to?customiseToutiao’s newsfeeds, can provide it with winning?algorithms.

parent company：母公司，總公司

snap up：搶購(gòu)，趕緊買下(便宜或心儀之物)

sync：[s??k] n.同時(shí)，同步

captivate：[?k?pt?ve?t] vt.迷住，迷惑

sophisticated：[s??f?st?ke?t?d] adj.復(fù)雜的；精致的；富有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的；深?yuàn)W微妙的

customise：['k?st?ma?z] vt.定制，定做

algorithm：[??lg?r?e?m] n.演算法；運(yùn)算法則；計(jì)算程序

今日頭條母公司北京字節(jié)跳動(dòng)科技有限公司現(xiàn)在真成了買家。本月，該公司據(jù)報(bào)道以10億美元收購(gòu)了風(fēng)靡美國(guó)青少年的音樂短視頻應(yīng)用Musical.ly。這看起來(lái)像是一筆珠聯(lián)璧合的交易。總部位于上海的Musical.ly是首家開發(fā)了一款在西方國(guó)家流行的手機(jī)應(yīng)用的中國(guó)公司，而字節(jié)跳動(dòng)擁有成熟的定制新聞推送人工智能技術(shù)，它可以為Musical.ly提供優(yōu)秀的算法。

［3］Those algorithms are developed by an army of data scientists working from a?vast?former?aviation?museum in Beijing. Bytedance’s?boffins?showed off their?prowess?last year with a Toutiao?bot?that wrote hundreds of widely read short articles during the Rio Olympics. Bytedance’s code also powers four of the six most viewed short- video platforms in China.

vast：[vɑ:st] adj.廣闊的；巨大的；大量的；巨額的

aviation：[?e?vi?e??n] n.航空；飛行術(shù)，航空學(xué)

boffin：[?bɑ:f?n] n.<英俚>研究員，科學(xué)工作者，技術(shù)專家

prowess：[?pra??s] n.英勇；高超技藝

bot：[b?t] n.網(wǎng)上機(jī)器人；自動(dòng)程序

在北京一個(gè)巨大的前航空博物館改造的辦公室里，大批數(shù)據(jù)科學(xué)家開發(fā)出了頭條的算法。去年，頭條的研發(fā)人員曾在里約奧運(yùn)會(huì)期間炫耀了他們的實(shí)力，他們用一個(gè)頭條機(jī)器人寫出了數(shù)百篇廣為閱讀的短文。字節(jié)跳動(dòng)的代碼還為中國(guó)六大短視頻平臺(tái)中的四家提供支持。

［4］News was the perfect place for the?startup?to build its AI muscle. Toutiao sources its content from 4,000 partner sites, from China’s state-owned media?titansto its?buzziest?blogs. Users’ newsfeeds are constantly updated based on what its machines have learnt about reading preferences, from things like taps, time spent on an article and location (where you spend the lunar new year is probably your hometown, for example). Toutiao claims to have a user figured out within 24 hours.

startup：['stɑ:t'?p] n.啟動(dòng)；新興公司（尤指新興網(wǎng)絡(luò)公司）

titan：[?ta?tn] n.巨子；巨人；成就非凡的人

buzzy：['b?z?] adj.熱鬧的；有趣的；時(shí)尚的

新聞是這家創(chuàng)業(yè)公司增強(qiáng)其人工智能實(shí)力的最佳領(lǐng)域。頭條從大到中國(guó)的官方媒體巨頭，小到人氣博客等在內(nèi)的4000家合作伙伴網(wǎng)站抓取內(nèi)容。頭條基于機(jī)器算法對(duì)用戶閱讀偏好的了解不斷為用戶更新新聞推送，比如通過(guò)了解讀者常用輸入、查看一篇文章花費(fèi)的時(shí)間和用戶的地理位置（比如農(nóng)歷新年時(shí)，你很可能會(huì)在家鄉(xiāng)）。頭條聲稱能夠在24小時(shí)內(nèi)了解用戶的偏好。

［5］Its 120m daily readers spend an average of 74 minutes a day on the app—more than almost any other big social platform in or outside China, including Facebook and even WeChat, whose?devotees?use it for an average of 66 minutes. Half of that time is spent watching videos, many self-published through 800,000 accounts run by everyone from Shanghai?celebrities?to Henan pig-raisers. One is Brother Kun, who posts videos and articles about plant-related things like caring for your?bonsai. He has 360,000 followers and earns over 10,000 yuan ($1,500) a month from the platform under a deal in which Toutiao shares advertising revenue with content- creators (paid content is still in its?infancy?in China).

devotee：[?dev??ti:] n.信徒；皈依者；熱愛者，迷戀者

celebrity：[s??lebr?ti] n.名流；名聲；名人，知名人士

bonsai：[?b?nsa?] n.<日>盆景

infancy：[??nf?nsi] n.嬰兒期，幼年時(shí)代；初期

頭條的1.2億用戶平均每天使用頭條app74分鐘——超過(guò)了包括Facebook和微信在內(nèi)（微信的用戶平均使用時(shí)間為66分鐘）的大多數(shù)國(guó)內(nèi)外大型社交平臺(tái)。其中一半的時(shí)間是觀看視頻。很多個(gè)人上傳的視頻來(lái)自80多萬(wàn)個(gè)賬號(hào)，大到上海的名人，小到河南的養(yǎng)豬戶。比如發(fā)植物相關(guān)的視頻和文章、教你養(yǎng)護(hù)盆栽的頭條號(hào)Brother Kun，有36萬(wàn)訂閱用戶，月入過(guò)萬(wàn)。他與頭條簽訂了廣告收入分成協(xié)議（在中國(guó)市場(chǎng)，付費(fèi)內(nèi)容仍然處于萌芽期）。

［6］Some?scoff?at Toutiao’s sometimes?tawdry?machine-generated mix; a Hong Kong-based analyst says the algorithm seems to?cater to?“the?lowest common denominator”. Yet that its appeal goes far beyond China’s richest?metropolises?is one of the reasons it is?thrilling?investors, says Eric Zhang of General Atlantic, an American private-equity firm with a stake in Toutiao. Half of its users are in?so-called?third-tier?cities and below, where most of China’s?untapped?smartphone potential lies.

scoff：[sk?:f] n.笑柄；嘲笑；嘲弄，愚弄 vi.嘲笑，嘲弄

tawdry：[?t?:dri] adj.俗麗的，華而不實(shí)的

cater to：迎合；滿足需要

lowest common denominator：大眾化的東西；最平庸的人

metropolis：[m??trɑ:p?l?s] n.大都市，大都會(huì)；首府，首都

thrilling：[ ?θr?l??] 扣人心弦的；激動(dòng)人心的；引人入勝的

so-called：[s?? k?:ld] adj.所謂的，號(hào)稱的

tier：[t??(r)] 等級(jí)

untapped：[?n?t?pt] adj.（有用或?qū)氋F的東西）未開發(fā)的，未利用的

有人嘲諷頭條機(jī)器生成的內(nèi)容推送有時(shí)候很低俗。香港的一位分析人士指出其算法好像會(huì)迎合“低級(jí)趣味”。然而，頭條的吸引力已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)不限于中國(guó)最富有的一些城市。美國(guó)私募股權(quán)基金公司泛大西洋資本（General Altantic）的Eric Zhang說(shuō)這也是讓投資者興奮不已的原因之一，泛大西洋資本持有頭條的股份。頭條一半的用戶是在所謂的三線以及三線以下城市，中國(guó)智能手機(jī)尚未開發(fā)的潛在市場(chǎng)幾乎都在這些地區(qū)。

【7】Some think its rise may be bad news for Baidu, one of the “BAT” tech?trio, along with Alibaba and Tencent. Toutiao’s news app uses its algorithms to?fine-tune?advertisers’ posts to suit readers’ interests, satisfying both. Toutiao reportedly hopes to make as much as 50bn yuan from ads next year. That is only 15bn yuan shy of what Baidu, China’s biggest search engine, earned last year from advertisers.

trio：[?tri:o?] n.三重奏；三人一組；三重奏

fine-tune：[fa?n tju?n] v.微調(diào)

有人認(rèn)為，今日頭條的崛起對(duì)BAT三巨頭（還有阿里巴巴和騰訊）之一的百度來(lái)說(shuō)可能是個(gè)壞消息。頭條的新聞應(yīng)用通過(guò)算法對(duì)廣告商的文章進(jìn)行精準(zhǔn)匹配，以符合閱讀者的興趣，滿足了雙方的需求。據(jù)稱，頭條希望明年廣告收入達(dá)到500億元人民幣，這僅比中國(guó)最大的搜索引擎百度去年的廣告收入低150億元。

【8】Toutiao’s?ascent?has already earned it the newest?accolade?in Chinese internet circles: a place in a fresh tech?trinity, “TMD”. Yet among its fellow new kids— Meituan-Dianping, an online services platform for everything from food delivery to cinema bookings, and Didi Chuxing, a ride-hailing firm—it stands alone in having no financial backing from BAT. Most?upstarts?join forces with BAT to gain access to users, algorithms and deep pockets. Toutiao’s genius, says Bhavtosh Vajpayee of Sanford C. Bernstein, a research firm, was managing to build up the first two from a business that needed very little capital.

ascent：[??sent] n.上升；上坡；登高；追溯

accolade：[??k?le?d] n.嘉獎(jiǎng)，表?yè)P(yáng)

trinity：['tr?n?t?] n.<正>三人小組；三件一套；三合一

upstart：[??pstɑ:rt] n.暴發(fā)戶，新貴；傲慢自負(fù)的人

頭條已經(jīng)在中國(guó)的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)業(yè)贏得了一席之地，成為業(yè)界新的三巨頭TMD之一，另外兩個(gè)是美團(tuán)點(diǎn)評(píng)（提供從外賣到預(yù)訂電影票等一切服務(wù)的在線平臺(tái)）和網(wǎng)約車公司滴滴出行。不過(guò)，頭條是TMD中唯一沒有BAT投資的公司。大多數(shù)創(chuàng)業(yè)公司都會(huì)與BAT合作，以獲取用戶、算法和投資。斯坦福?伯恩斯坦研究公司的巴夫托什?瓦杰帕伊（Bhavtosh Vajpayee）說(shuō)，頭條的天才在于它以極少的資本成功積累了用戶和建立了算法。

【9】That is likely to change as Bytedance seeks new users through other types of entertainment. Before it bagged Musical.ly, it bought stakes in Indian and Indonesian news aggregators, as well as Flipagram, an American rival to Instagram; it was reported this month to have tried to buy Reddit, an American social-discussion site valued at close to $2bn. Having come so far without BAT, investors think Toutiao has a good shot at continuing?solo.

solo：[?so?lo?] n.單飛；獨(dú)唱（曲），獨(dú)奏（曲）；單人表演 adj.獨(dú)奏的，獨(dú)唱的，單獨(dú)的

隨著字節(jié)跳動(dòng)開始通過(guò)其他娛樂形式尋找新用戶，這一點(diǎn)可能會(huì)發(fā)生變化。在收購(gòu)Musical.ly之前，字節(jié)跳動(dòng)還收購(gòu)了印度和印度尼西亞新聞聚合平臺(tái)以及Instagram在美國(guó)的對(duì)手Flipagram的股權(quán)。據(jù)稱，本月字節(jié)跳動(dòng)還將嘗試收購(gòu)估值接近20億美元的美國(guó)社交討論網(wǎng)站Reddit。在沒有BAT幫助的情況下頭條取得了長(zhǎng)足的發(fā)展，投資者認(rèn)為，頭條繼續(xù)單打獨(dú)斗有著很好的勝算。

毫無(wú)疑問，頭條在崛起，成功的原因之一是先進(jìn)的人工智能技術(shù)。但是算法畢竟不是萬(wàn)能的，頭條自身仍存在種種問題，比如頭條號(hào)文章不斷爆出抄襲侵權(quán)丑聞，以及文中提到的內(nèi)容低俗問題，目前似乎并沒有很好的解決辦法。那么，你又是怎樣看待頭條的未來(lái)發(fā)展呢？

英文原文：

http://www.economist.com

講解：霞姐 / Tiassa / Angel

翻譯 / 校對(duì)：Angel

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