‘TikTok parent company ByteDance used OpenAI API to train its own chatbot’
ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, is said to have used OpenAI’s API to develop its own large language model. This is prohibited according to the latter’s terms of use. OpenAI has temporarily suspended ByteDance’s account.
ByteDance secretly used OpenAI technology to develop its own large language model, and then tried to cover it up. That’s what The Verge writes based on internal documents. OpenAI’s API is said to have been used for virtually every phase of the development of the competitive AI model, known internally as Project Seed, including for training and evaluating the model. According to The Verge, the abuse is so rampant that employees regularly reach the limit of their allowed API access.
The TikTok parent company has reportedly asked its employees to “launder” the evidence of it through “data desensitization.” The terms of use of the API state that it may not be used ‘to develop AI models that compete with our products and services’. When the company received permission from the Chinese government several months ago to release its first chatbot powered by the Project Seed model, ByteDance asked its employees to stop using GPT-generated text for development, according to The Verge. Nevertheless, the API would still have been used afterwards to assess the performance of his own chatbot.
OpenAI spokesperson Niko Felix told The Verge that the AI company has suspended ByteDance’s account for the time being: “All API clients must adhere to our usage policy to ensure our technology is not misused. Although ByteDance made minimal use of our API, we have suspended their account while we investigate further. If we find that the company is not following this policy, we will either ask them to make any necessary adjustments or terminate their account.”
ByteDance denies in a statement that it has violated the licensing agreement with OpenAI. The company says it used GPT-generated data at the beginning of development, but according to the company, no OpenAI data is now used for its model. “In markets outside China, we use GPT to power products and features, but for chatbot Doubao, which is only available in China, we use our proprietary model.”