ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has announced the termination of an intern due to allegations of “maliciously interfering” with the training of one of its artificial intelligence (AI) models. The company, however, refuted claims regarding the severity of the incident, indicating that the reports contain “exaggerations and inaccuracies.”
In response to inquiries about the event, ByteDance confirmed that the intern was part of the commercialization technology team and lacked experience with the AI Lab. The firm stated that the individual’s social media presence and some related media reports include false information.
ByteDance emphasized that its commercial operations, including its extensive language AI models, remained unaffected by the intern’s actions. Furthermore, the company dismissed claims that the incident resulted in damages exceeding $10 million due to disruptions in an AI training system reliant on powerful graphics processing units (GPUs).
In addition to the intern’s termination last August, ByteDance informed the intern’s university and relevant industry bodies regarding the matter. The company continues to invest significantly in AI technology, which underpins its widely recognized Doubao chatbot and various other applications, including a cutting-edge text-to-video tool.
