ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is making strides in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) with the development of a competitor to OpenAI’s GPT. According to a report from the South China Morning Post, ByteDance envisions a generative AI platform that enables users to create their own chatbots.
Already known for its image-generating tools like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, ByteDance is now focusing on introducing a groundbreaking “bot development platform.” Leveraging its success with AI on TikTok, the company is entering the realm of large language models (LLMs) as a service.
Revolutionary Bot Development: ByteDance’s Foray into Large Language Models
If all goes as planned, the “bot development platform” is expected to be publicly available in beta by the end of December, according to an internal memo.
The memo suggests that the platform will enable ByteDance to “explore new generative AI products and how they can integrate with the existing ones.”
ByteDance had previously launched the AI conversational app “Dou Bao” and its web version in August, offering features such as text-based and image-based conversations.
This move aligns with a trend seen among major tech companies, with OpenAI introducing ChatGPT that allows users to customize it for specific tasks without coding experience. Baidu, Alibaba Cloud, and others have also launched their own versions of large language model platforms.
The prospect of embedding an image generator into a widely-used app like TikTok, boasting over 80 million monthly active users in the US alone, raises concerns, especially in terms of security. Critics argue that ByteDance’s close ties with the Chinese government, coupled with AI integration on TikTok, could potentially facilitate the creation and spread of deepfakes on the platform.
The US government has already expressed national security concerns regarding ByteDance, and legislators are considering imposing restrictions on TikTok. Despite Montana’s attempt to ban the app, citing concerns over user data and national security, a federal judge recently blocked the ban, citing potential violations of free speech rights.
While OpenAI continues to restrict its services from mainland China and Hong Kong, ByteDance’s move into the AI space with TikTok raises questions about the potential risks and security implications associated with large language models embedded in widely-used social media platforms. Meanwhile, Microsoft is actively promoting its GPT-powered Copilot in the Asian market, including Hong Kong, while other companies, like Google with Bard, follow a more cautious approach.
