ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has announced the termination of an intern for allegedly “maliciously interfering” with the training of one of its AI projects. However, the company has disputed claims regarding the severity of the damage caused by this incident, stating that reports include “exaggerations and inaccuracies.”
The situation gained traction on social media over the weekend, prompting ByteDance to clarify the details. The firm’s Doubao, a generative AI model similar to ChatGPT, stands as China’s most popular AI chatbot.
Tiktok Owner Fires Intern
In its statement, ByteDance noted, “The individual was an intern with the advertising technology team and has no experience with the AI Lab.” They further mentioned that the intern’s social media profiles and certain media reports contained inaccuracies.
Importantly, the company emphasized that its commercial online operations, including its large language AI models, were not affected by the intern’s actions. ByteDance also refuted claims that the incident resulted in damages exceeding $10 million (£7.7 million) by disrupting an AI project that relies on thousands of powerful graphics processing units (GPUs).
Along with terminating the intern’s employment in August, ByteDance reported that it has notified the intern’s university and relevant industry bodies about the incident.
As a prominent player in the tech industry, ByteDance operates some of the world’s most popular social media applications, including TikTok and its Chinese equivalent, Douyin. The company is recognized as a leader in algorithm development, which significantly enhances user engagement across its platforms.
Like many of its competitors both in China and globally, ByteDance is heavily investing in AI projects. The company utilizes this technology not only for its Doubao chatbot but also for various applications, including a text-to-video tool named Jimeng.