ByteDance’s Global AI Ambition Runs Into Obstacles

TikTok owner ByteDance, whose artificial intelligence chatbot is a major hit in China, wants to compete worldwide in generative AI. But those plans could be complicated by the geopolitical and regulatory storms surrounding TikTok, as well as the technical challenges it has encountered.

Inside ByteDance’s AI research and development department, known as Seed, multiple teams have been working on global versions of the company’s foundation models aimed at markets outside China since last year, according to current and former employees familiar with the initiatives. ByteDance hopes to use the models to power new AI applications or features.