ByteDance eyes Singapore for genAI push, posts several job openings

While all eyes are on TikTok’s future in the US, its parent firm ByteDance has been busy ramping up its own AI capabilities.

Photo credit: ByteDance

The Chinese tech giant has posted over 100 job openings related to generative AI largely based in Singapore and the US. Close to 40 of the open positions were for LLM roles in the city-state.

Large language models – also known as foundational models – are a type of AI that can generate content like text, images, and videos through the use of prompts. They are trained using large data sets and are built to have machine learning capabilities.

A majority of ByteDance’s new LLM jobs are related to training, safety, and data acquisition.

A reason why the company is interested in Singapore and US specifically is due to the availability of talent in these countries, a source with knowledge of the matter tells Tech in Asia.

The job openings in Singapore are across the different teams that are integrating and testing out the AI capabilities for the firm’s various products, says the source.

These hires will be working on ByteDance’s own Chinese LLM model – called Yunque – which powers its ChatGPT-like app Doubao. They’ll also help develop the company’s other generative AI apps, which are tested using other foundational models such as OpenAI.

ByteDance’s Doubao offers services like chatbots, English learning support, writing assistance, AI generated images, and coding.

In January, a Forbes report revealed that TikTok had also quietly launched four generative AI apps in the span of three months, which were also benchmarked using OpenAI’s technology. The apps – Cici AI, Coze, ChitChop, and BagelBell – were developed for markets outside of China.

Another factor that could’ve played a part in the hiring spree is ByteDance’s relative sluggishness compared to other Chinese giants, with rivals such as Alibaba and Baidu having released their own LLMs much earlier.

Tech in Asia has reached out to ByteDance for comment.

Last December, OpenAI suspended ByteDance’s account after a report by The Verge alleged that the Chinese firm had “secretly” been using OpenAI’s technology to develop its own foundational model.

The report cited internal ByteDance documents that said it used OpenAI’s API in various phases of development for this model, which had the code name “Project Seed.”