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ByteDance Fires Intern for Sabotaging AI Training Project

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ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has terminated an intern for “maliciously interfering” with the training of one of its artificial intelligence (AI) models. The incident has garnered significant attention on social media over the weekend, prompting ByteDance to clarify the details surrounding the event.

The intern, who worked in the advertising technology team, reportedly lacked experience in the AI Lab. In a statement, ByteDance emphasized that the intern’s actions did not significantly disrupt its commercial online operations, including the company’s large language AI models.

ByteDance refuted claims that the incident led to over $10 million (£7.7 million) in damages by disrupting an AI training system reliant on thousands of powerful graphics processing units (GPUs). The company characterized such reports as containing “exaggerations and inaccuracies.”

In addition to firing the intern in August, ByteDance has notified the individual’s university and relevant industry bodies about the situation. The Chinese technology giant is known for its popular social media applications, including TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin, and is recognized as a leader in algorithm development.

With a significant investment in AI, ByteDance utilizes the technology for various applications, including its Doubao chatbot, which has emerged as the most popular AI chatbot in China, as well as a text-to-video tool named Jimeng.

US Sues TikTok Over ‘Massive-Scale’ Privacy Violations of Kids Under 13

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The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance for allegedly failing to protect children’s privacy on the platform. The government claims TikTok violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which mandates parental consent for collecting personal information from users under 13.

TikTok, with around 170 million U.S. users, is also contesting a new law requiring ByteDance to divest its U.S. assets by January 19 or face a ban. The lawsuit, joined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), aims to halt TikTok’s “unlawful massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy.” Representative Frank Pallone emphasized the need to separate TikTok from Chinese Communist Party control to safeguard American data.

TikTok disputes the allegations, stating many relate to past practices that have been addressed. The DOJ accuses TikTok of knowingly allowing children to create accounts and share content without parental consent, thereby collecting their personal information unlawfully.

FTC Chair Lina Khan highlighted TikTok’s repeated privacy violations, endangering millions of children. The FTC seeks penalties up to $51,744 per violation per day, potentially amounting to billions of dollars.