The popularity of short video content continues to grow as Tiktok still faces the possibility of a US ban. The newest company to join the space is TED, the nonprofit most well-known for its TED talks featuring notable figures such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and the late Pope Francis.
On Wednesday, the company announced a new short form video feature with the aptly named “Ted Shorts.” This feature has been gradually rolling out to users since the beginning of May.
Available on both iOS and Android devices, TED shorts are located in the center of the navigation bar. By tapping the button, users will be taken to a swipeable vertical feed with short snippets of TED talk and other original content. Users can like videos, leave comments and share them with their friends.
Ted has collaborated with The Gren, a no-code platform for generative video experiences to promote features like Tiktok. As explained to TechCrunch, Ted’s new feed will be personalized with AI and curated a variety of videos to express the most relevant content for each audience based on factors such as personal interests, trending subjects, and other signals.
Ted Shorts is one of the most notable additions to the app, and has not seen any significant updates in its 15-year history. Since its launch in 2010, the app has primarily served as a destination for accessing TED talk and other content via mobile devices, including educational animations and 26 podcasts that span a variety of topics such as business, climate and health.
The new feature provides a way for users to discover highlights of their favorite speakers before committing to a full-length video. This is the first time users have been able to engage each other within the TED app, and can promote a sense of community that may have been previously lacking.
Ted has already gained considerable support on YouTube (26.1 million), Tiktok (2.8 million), Instagram (8.1 million), and other social media channels, indicating demand for short video content.
The launch of TED shorts comes at a critical time as the app tries to drive growth. Product Head Tricia Maia told TechCrunch that the app had been stripped “for several years” and “for several years”, impacting monthly active users and annual growth metrics. According to AppFigures, the app was downloaded 1 million times in 2024, down 17% compared to 1.2 million installs in 2023.
To date, the company has boasted over 100 million app downloads worldwide.
Ted is involved in many companies that employ short video content as the platform competes for users’ attention. Earlier this month, Netflix revealed that it was experimenting with short video feeds on its mobile apps.
Meanwhile, Tiktok faces a potential ban in mid-June, but President Trump plans to extend his third deadline when contract negotiations continue. If US users lose access to Tiktok, they may be looking for an alternative platform, and Ted hopes they consider it to be high quality content compared to what was found in other apps.
“In an age of fragmented attention, people are actively seeking new ideas and more thoughtful, less overwhelming, and less overwhelming ways to connect with each other,” Maia said. “(Ted Shorts) is our antidote to algorithmic fatigue and low-quality content.”
The company plans to continue its evolving shorts over time, seeking new ways to meet user needs while also enhancing community building.
Maia “explores ways to add new community features and showcases how to extend community-driven capabilities to other TED platforms. This could extend beyond video and mobile to a cross-platform community engagement experience that allows viewers to not only watch videos but also participate in a truly personalized, topic-driven digital community on a global scale.”
This story was updated to fix total app installations ranging from 30 million to 100 million.