China: ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant behind TikTok, has dismissed an intern for “maliciously interfering” with the AI training of one of its artificial intelligence (AI) models. Despite the action, the company has renounced claims distributed on social media regarding the extent of the damage, calling such reports exaggerated and inaccurate.
The company, in a statement, clarified that the intern worked on the commercialisation technology team and had no involvement with its AI Lab. ByteDance highlighted that the incident did not affect its AI operations, including its large language models used across various applications. Reports suggesting the intern’s actions caused more than $10 million in damage to a sophisticated training system consisting of thousands of powerful graphics processing units (GPU) were categorically denied by the firm.
ByteDance addresses the online narratives surrounding the event. The company stated that its saleable online operations and AI models remained fully functional and unaffected throughout the ordeal.
ByteDance also confirmed it had taken steps beyond closing the intern in August. The firm informed the individual’s university and relevant industry organisations about the incident. While ByteDance did not provide additional details about the precise nature of the interference, it remains firm that the intern’s actions were contained without significant impact on its operations.
As one of the world’s leaders in AI and algorithm development, ByteDance continues to invest heavily in advanced technologies. The company’s AI-powered Doubao chatbot remains China’s most popular generative AI tool, alongside other AI-driven applications like the text-to-video platform, Jimeng.
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