TikTok’s Parent Company Accused of Secretly Developing AI Through OpenAI’s ChatGPT

ByteDance, the Chinese owner of popular short video app TikTok, has been accused of stealing secrets from OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT, to develop its own commercial artificial intelligence (AI) for the Chinese market. The allegations surfaced after OpenAI suspended ByteDance’s developer account for violating its terms of service. The technology in question is the application programming interface (API) behind ChatGPT, which allows developers to integrate the AI into their apps. Both OpenAI and Microsoft, which provides access to the API, prohibit the use of ChatGPT to create competing models. ByteDance allegedly used ChatGPT extensively, despite attempts to obfuscate evidence. The company’s use of AI has raised concerns in the context of the ongoing US-China rivalry, particularly regarding emerging technologies like AI. This news comes as TikTok faces scrutiny over national security concerns and ongoing efforts by US lawmakers to ensure data security oversight. TikTok’s CEO claims they operate independently and that there is no evidence of data transmission to the Chinese government. However, US states have already banned ByteDance services from government devices. The article aims to provide clear and concise information while adhering to legal and ethical standards.