With tiktok still Faced with the possibility of a US ban, the popularity of short-form video content is growing. The latest company entering this space is TED, which is nonprofit and famous for its TED speeches, featuring Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and the late Pope Francis.
On Wednesday, the company announced its new short form video feature, aptly named "Ted Shorts." Since early May, the feature has gradually been launched to users.
TED shorts are available on both iOS and Android devices, found in the middle of the navigation bar. By tapping the button, the user can take it to a slideable vertical feed that contains a brief TED talk and other original content. Users can like videos, comment and share with friends.
Ted partnered with Quanin, a codeless platform for generating video experiences that power Tiktok-type features. As Gunin explained to TechCrunch, TED's new feed will be personalized through AI, curating videos based on factors such as personal interests, trend themes and other signals to present the most relevant content for each audience.
TED shorts are one of the most notable additions to the app, and have not seen major updates in its 15-year history. Since its launch in 2010, the app is primarily a destination for users to access TED talks and other content through their mobile devices, such as educational animations and 26 podcasts, covering a variety of topics such as business, climate and health.
This new feature provides users with a way to discover the highlights of their favorite speakers before committing to full-length video. This is also the first time users interact with each other in a TED application, fostering a sense of community that might have been lacking before.
Ted already has a large following on YouTube (26.1 million), Tiktok (2.8 million), Instagram (8.1 million), and other social media channels, demonstrating the need for short video content.
The launch of TED shorts is crucial as the app tries to improve its growth. The head of product Tricia Maia told TechCrunch that the app has been deprived of “a few years”, which has affected its monthly active users and annual growth metrics. According to AppFigures, the app was downloaded 1 million times in 2024, down 17%, while the 2023 installation was 1.2 million.
To date, the company has over 30 million app downloads worldwide.
TED has joined more and more companies as a platform that competes for user attention. Earlier this month, Netflix revealed that it was trying out a short video feed for its mobile app.
Meanwhile, Tiktok faces a potential ban in mid-June, although President Trump plans to extend the deadline for the third time as deal negotiations continue. If U.S. users lose access to Tiktok, they may seek alternative platforms, and TED wants to see it as higher quality content compared to other applications.
“In an age of concern, people are actively seeking more thoughtful, more thoughtful, less way to connect with each other,” said Maiya. “(TED shorts) are our antidote to algorithm fatigue and devastating low-quality content.”
The company plans to continue to evolve TED shorts over time to meet user needs, while also exploring new ways to enhance community building.
Maia added: “We will explore ways to add new community capabilities and extend community-driven capabilities to other TED platforms, such as our website…this may extend to video and mobile devices beyond cross-platform community engagement experiences where our audiences can not only watch videos but participate in truly personalized, theme-driven digital communities at a global scale.”