- OpenAI blocks ByteDance’s access over AI chatbot misconduct claims.
- TikTok parents allegedly hid exploiting models like GPT against policy.
- Incident risks escalating US-China AI ethics tensions amid mistrust.
OpenAI suspends ByteDance
OpenAI suspended the account of TikTok parent ByteDance this week, overclaiming it improperly tapped the startup’s Generative Pre-Trained Transformer to boost its language model.
Citing internal communications, The Verge reported Project Seed – ByteDance’s AI chatbot effort – was actively trained and benchmarked against OpenAI’s GPT-3 despite usage policies forbidding building competing products.
OpenAI’s APIs also can’t be exploited to extract underlying models. However, directives allegedly show ByteDance to be well aware of restrictions while instructing developers to mask evidence.
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ByteDance says they’re innocent
A ByteDance spokesperson denied wrongdoing to Insider, stating the company is licensed for GPT access powering non-China products.
Its chatbot Doubao launched solely in its home country using self-developed tech. ByteDance’s reach keeps expanding into AI amidst global regulatory heat over data practices.
Lawmakers voice concerns over TikTok ties to China that could enable user info to flow to Beijing. The unrestrained development approach attributed could further hurt trust if true.
OpenAI said investigations are still ongoing after the account suspension.
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This might get legally ugly
While downplaying Project Seed’s OpenAI reliance as “minimal,” the startup likely aims to enforce policies vigorously guarding its coveted models.
The tech ethics scuffle could get legally ugly if violations reach IP theft levels. But ByteDance treading lines to compete with ChatGPT’s builder risks overall reputation, too.
The incident epitomizes parental opacity for TikTok confronting charges of censoring and manipulating content. And the reported attempt at obfuscation will only compound criticism.
As AI becomes the latest fault line in US-China tensions, the ByteDance conflict threatens wider blows if findings confirm broader misconduct.
