China’s tech company ByteDance is suing a former intern, Tian Keyu, for $1.1 million in damages, alleging that he attacked its artificial intelligence large language model training infrastructure. This case has sparked widespread attention in China amid the country’s heated AI race. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, filed the lawsuit with the Haidian District People’s Court in Beijing. While lawsuits between companies and employees are common in China, legal action against an intern and for such a large sum is unusual.
The focus of the lawsuit is on AI LLM training, a technology that has garnered global interest due to rapid technological advancements in generative AI. ByteDance accused Tian of deliberately sabotaging the team’s model training tasks through code manipulation and unauthorized modifications. Tian, identified as a postgraduate student at Peking University, has not responded to the allegations.
ByteDance confirmed that the intern was dismissed in August and downplayed rumors that the case cost the company millions of dollars and involved over 8,000 graphics processing units. The company declined to comment further on the lawsuit. This case highlights the challenges and risks in the AI field, as companies strive to protect their technologies and data from internal threats.
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