ByteDance terminates intern after AI training disruption incident

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 company dismissed claims about the severity of the damage, stating they included "exaggerations and inaccuracies."

The intern, who worked in the advertising technology team and lacked experience in the AI Lab, allegedly disrupted operations related to the popular Doubao chatbot, China's leading generative AI model.

ByteDance confirmed that its commercial online operations, including large language AI models, remained unaffected. Following the incident in August, the company informed the intern's university and relevant industry bodies.