In brief
The company emphasizes that its significant AI projects remain unharmed, despite claims of a disruption caused by an intern.
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has announced the dismissal of an intern for allegedly "maliciously interfering" with the development of one of its artificial intelligence (AI) models. The intern, who was part of the commercialization technology team and lacked experience with the AI Lab, reportedly disrupted the training of the firm's generative AI model, similar to ChatGPT, known as Doubao. While the firm acknowledged the intern's actions, it disputed reports claiming extensive damage. In a statement, ByteDance remarked, "Our commercial online operations, including our large language AI models, were unaffected by the intern's actions," emphasizing that the sensationalized reports contained "some exaggerations and inaccuracies."ByteDance also dismissed rumors suggesting that the incident led to over $10 million in losses due to the disruption of an AI training system involving thousands of high-powered graphics processing units (GPUs). Following the intern's dismissal in August, ByteDance took measures by notifying the individual’s university and relevant industry organizations about the misconduct.As a major player in the AI landscape, ByteDance is heavily investing in various AI technologies that not only enhance the performance of the Doubao chatbot but also power other offerings such as the innovative text-to-video tool, Jimeng.
