ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is suing a former intern for $1.1 million for allegedly attacking its artificial intelligence large language model training infrastructure. The intern, Tian Keyu, is accused of deliberately sabotaging the team’s model training tasks through code manipulation and unauthorized modifications. This case has garnered widespread attention in China, where lawsuits between companies and employees are common, but legal action against an intern and for such a large sum is unusual. The focus on AI LLM training technology is of particular interest due to the rapid advances in generative AI, which is used to produce text, images, or other outputs from large data sets.
While ByteDance declined to comment on the lawsuit, they did confirm that the intern was dismissed in August. The company stated that rumors of the incident costing millions of dollars and involving over 8,000 graphics processing units were “seriously exaggerated.” Tian, who is reported to be a postgraduate student at Peking University, has not responded to inquiries about the case. This case highlights the importance of protecting AI technologies and the potential consequences for individuals who attempt to disrupt or sabotage them.
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