--- title: "TikTok’s Owner Seethes That It Missed the Boat on AI" description: "Despite dominating the app market, TikTok's owner is irked that his people didn't move on artificial intelligence sooner." date: "2024-02-02" modified: "2024-02-02" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tiktok-owner-bytedance-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "bytedance" - "llms" - "the digest" - "tiktok" --- # TikTok’s Owner Seethes That It Missed the Boat on AI ![Despite dominating the app market, TikTok's owner is irked that his people didn't move on artificial intelligence sooner.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Mediocrity Magnet Despite [dominating the app market](), TikTok's owner is irked that his people didn't move on artificial intelligence sooner. Liang Rubo, the cofounder of TikTok's parent company ByteDance, told employees in a company-wide meeting attended by workers from all over the world that they should have been paying more attention to AI as it grew into the giant disruptor it now is, as the company [explained in posts on WeChat](), a messaging app it owns similar to WhatsApp or Telegram. Because they missed the boat, the company is now risking "mediocrity," the owner warned. "Our company is not sensitive enough (to new technologies)," Liang said, [per *Reuters*' translation]() of the posts. "For example, discussions about \[OpenAI's\] GPT did not appear in our half-year tech review until 2023, although GPT-1 was already released in 2018." Be that as it may, the company's lateness to the AI game didn't preclude it from asking forgiveness rather than permission. In December, [*The Verge* revealed]() that ByteDance had secretly been using OpenAI's software to build [its own large language model]() (LLM), and although it argued that the usage was justified, [OpenAI suspended the company's account]() pending investigation all the same. ## Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger In his remarks, Liang went on to claim that the company's rapid expansion in recent years had actually hindered its ability to innovate, citing internal red tape that makes projects drag on that would be easier for a smaller startup. "For many good startup teams, they are very familiar with the industry," the ByteDance owner said. "They can quickly spot any new projects appearing on GitHub, and then they start seeking acquisition or partnership opportunities." Companies more advanced in the AI space, Liang continued, built out their LLMs between 2018 and 2021. While it doesn't appear that he called out any companies by name, there are several firms that come to mind when considering that timeframe, including OpenAI, [Google's DeepMind](), [Microsoft](), and [Meta-formerly-Facebook](). As the [*South China Morning Post* reported](), ByteDance did release Coze, a platform similar to OpenAI's GPTs custom chatbot market, in China. Beyond the claims that the company had been using OpenAI's code, the opening of the platform could represent an opening because [OpenAI formally pulled its services]() from the country last summer due to political tensions. For a late bloomer, ByteDance seems to be doing pretty well in the AI world if it's launched its own version of GPTs — so it may well be that Liang is using [Steve Jobs-style tough love]() to push his [110,000-strong workforce]() that much harder. **More on TikTok and AI:** [*TikTok Facing Huge Crisis as It Loses Taylor Swift, BTS, Drake Over Its AI Features*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()