TBPN Kling AI reaches 12M MAU, China's aging tech worker crisis, drama at ThinkingMachine, TBPN x CAA | Diet TBPN
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Jan 22, 2026 Kling.ai is making waves with 12 million monthly active users and impressive revenue figures. The discussion takes a turn to China's tech landscape, highlighting the troubling trend of ageism affecting mid-30s workers. Drama unfolds at Thinking Machines, with tensions among co-founders caught in a narrative battle. The hosts dive into the future of junior engineering roles amidst the rise of AI, pondering whether automation will eliminate these jobs. Plus, insights from Davos spark chatter on AI's impact on the workforce.
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Kuaishou's Rapid Kling Traction
- Kuaishou's Kling video model reached 12M MAU and $20M revenue within ~18 months of launch, showing rapid product-market fit.
- The model balances performance and cost, carving a niche with strong motion control and low pricing at $0.10/sec.
Cheap Frontier Quality Raises Scaling Questions
- Kuaishou launched Kling soon after OpenAI's Sora and iterated quickly with ~30 updates.
- The company claims Kling is gross-margin positive, raising questions about scaling inference costs and GPU access in China.
Look Beyond Layoff Headlines
- If you see layoffs reported, check whether companies are reallocating headcount to new AI teams instead of net reductions.
- Don't assume short-term layoffs equal long-term shrinkage when firms rapidly hire in other functions.