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Chinese language tech big ByteDance says it’s utilizing OpenAI’s know-how “to a really restricted extent” to assist develop its personal AI fashions.
The admission comes after the San Francisco-firm mentioned it had suspended ByteDance’s account over questions on how its GPT knowledge was getting used.
A ByteDance spokesperson instructed CNN on Tuesday that the corporate’s engineering group makes use of OpenAI’s GPT, together with different third-party fashions, to a really restricted extent in the course of the analysis and testing course of.
“ByteDance is licensed by Microsoft to make use of the GPT APIs,” the spokesperson mentioned, including that the corporate makes use of GPT to energy merchandise and options in markets outdoors China. OpenAI’s providers should not accessible in China.
API stands for “utility programming interface,” and it’s a framework that enables packages to speak and join with one another.
Beijing-based Bytedance, which owns TikTok, says it makes use of solely its personal self-developed AI mannequin to energy Doubao, which is accessible solely in China, the spokesperson mentioned. Doubao is a ChatGPT-like software that gives chat robots, writing help, English studying assist and different providers.
The feedback come days after the Verge reported that ByteDance is “secretly” utilizing OpenAI’s know-how to train its personal giant language mannequin (LLM), which is in direct violation of OpenAI’s phrases of service.
OpenAI prohibits customers from creating rival AI fashions utilizing ChatGPT output.
In a press release despatched to CNN on Tuesday, OpenAI mentioned it had suspended Bytedance’s account.
“All API prospects should adhere to our utilization insurance policies to make sure that our know-how is used for good. Whereas ByteDance’s use of our API was minimal, now we have suspended their account whereas we additional examine,” it mentioned.
“If we uncover that their utilization doesn’t comply with these insurance policies, we’ll ask them to make vital modifications or terminate their account,” it added.
The Verge, citing inside ByteDance paperwork, reported that the Chinese language firm has relied on OpenAI API “throughout almost each section of improvement” of its foundational LLM, which was codenamed Venture Seed.
It reported that ByteDance ordered its employees to cease utilizing GPT-generated textual content just a few months in the past, which was across the time that the corporate launched the mannequin by way of its Doubao platform in China.
A lot of China’s tech giants — together with Baidu (Bidu), Alibaba (BABA) and SenseTime — have already proven off their very own ChatGPT-style instruments. Some say the brand new choices from Chinese language companies will add gas to an present US-China rivalry in rising applied sciences.
The ByteDance spokesperson instructed CNN that in April, the corporate introduced internally that knowledge produced by GPT shouldn’t be added to the coaching datasets of its self-developed fashions.
The corporate additionally offered compliance coaching to the engineering group relating to the phrases of service when utilizing GPT.
— CNN’s Juliana Liu and Catherine Thorbecke contributed reporting