ByteDance has filed a lawsuit against a former intern, alleging sabotage of an AI training project.

ByteDance is seeking 8 million yuan, approximately US$1.1 million, in damages and a public apology.

The case has been accepted by the Haidian District Court in Beijing. The individual involved is identified only by the surname Tian.

ByteDance claims Tian tampered with code, disrupting the training of an LLM and allegedly led to substantial resource wastage.

In October, rumors surfaced on Chinese social media regarding significant damages to the project. These included alleged misuse of over 8,000 graphics processing units and financial losses reaching tens of millions of dollars.

ByteDance has dismissed these rumors as exaggerated.

Tian has denied the allegations throughout investigations, which has led ByteDance to proceed with legal measures. The case is currently under judicial review.

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