The incident attracted public attention after rumors circulated on Chinese social media over the weekend, highlighting issues within the company’s operations.
However, ByteDance refuted claims regarding the severity of the damage caused by the intern, asserting that these reports contained exaggerations and inaccuracies.
According to ByteDance, “The individual was an intern in the advertising technology team and lacked experience with the AI Lab.” The company also mentioned that some information on social media and in the media was misleading.
The company reported that it had informed the intern’s university and relevant industry associations about the misconduct.
ByteDance emphasized that its Doubao, a ChatGPT-like generative AI model, remains the most popular AI chatbot in China, and the intern’s actions did not impact its commercial online operations or its large language AI models.
Additionally, ByteDance denied allegations that the incident resulted in damages exceeding $10 million (£7.7 million) by disrupting an AI training system comprising thousands of powerful graphics processing units (GPUs).
Recognized as a leader in algorithm development due to the user engagement of its apps, ByteDance is significantly investing in AI technology for various applications, including its Doubao chatbot and a text-to-video tool named Jimeng.
