ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is suing a former intern named Tian Keyu for $1.1 million, accusing him of intentionally attacking its artificial intelligence large language model training infrastructure. The lawsuit, filed with the Haidian District People’s Court in Beijing, is seeking damages for damages caused by Tian’s alleged sabotage of the team’s model training tasks through code manipulation and unauthorized modifications.
The case has attracted attention in China due to its focus on AI LLM training, a technology that has garnered global interest amid rapid advancements in generative AI. While legal disputes between companies and employees are common in China, suing an intern for such a large sum is unusual. ByteDance declined to provide comment on the lawsuit, while Tian, who is said to be a postgraduate student at Peking University, has not responded to requests for comment.
According to an internal ByteDance memo cited by Legal Weekly, Tian was dismissed in August after being accused of deliberately sabotaging the company’s AI infrastructure. ByteDance clarified in a social media post that rumors of the case costing the company millions of dollars and involving over 8,000 graphics processing units were “seriously exaggerated.” The lawsuit highlights the increasing stakes in the race for AI development and the potential risks associated with insider threats to sensitive technologies.
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