An intern was recently sacked by ByteDance, the Chinese internet behemoth that owns TikTok, for interfering with its AI initiatives. Meanwhile, the unnamed intern was fired in August for purposefully disrupting ByteDance’s AI model training, according to reports from Ars Technica and other media sources. ByteDance verified the intern’s conduct in a statement posted on its content platform Toutiao, stating that the tampering took place within the research initiatives of the commercial technology team. Thankfully, the company’s internet activities and official commercial AI programs were unaffected by the sabotage.
While ByteDance did not reveal which specific AI project the intern targeted, it is believed to be one of several the company is working on, possibly under Doubao, an OpenAI rival. ByteDance also used the statement to address some of the exaggerated rumors circulating online. Speculation had suggested that the intern had stolen thousands of graphics processing units (GPUs) and had been jailed. The company refuted these claims, stating that the intern was reported to his affiliated industry organization and handed over to his educational institution for disciplinary action.
Despite ByteDance’s official narrative, skepticism remains. Commentators on the company’s Toutiao post questioned whether the intern’s actions were downplayed, with one user alleging that the intern had used malicious code to sabotage several months of research, which could have severely affected the team’s progress. However, they noted that the sabotage did not directly impact ByteDance’s product line.
The true extent of the damage remains uncertain, and it is unclear whether ByteDance will pursue further action against the intern. While ByteDance’s statement may appear reasonable, parsing the truth in such incidents, especially within China’s secretive business environment, can be difficult.