Tech Planet solely discovered that a number of departments underneath ByteDance have elevated funding within the analysis and improvement of AI merchandise, with outcomes being successively achieved. This consists of the Douyin e-commerce division, in addition to the Ocean Engine and different enterprise departments. Amongst them, the Move division has taken important actions by not solely launching AI merchandise similar to “Dou Bao” and “Coze” but additionally planning to launch an AI character interactive app known as “Hualu” and a attainable image-related AI product named “PicPic”.
In accordance with sources, the month-to-month lively customers of “Dou Bao” reached 2 million in December final 12 months. By January 2024, this quantity doubled. Tech Planet has verified the info with ByteDance, however there was no response from them but.
ByteDance’s Vice President of Product and Technique, Zhu Jun, is chargeable for the product line of the Move division.
When it comes to the progress in AI analysis, ByteDance, also referred to as the “Tremendous App Manufacturing unit,” isn’t thought of quick. Since ChatGPT grew to become in style worldwide in 2022, home web firms have been desirous to strive it out and successively invested in analysis on massive fashions, AI, and different features. Corporations like Alibaba and Baidu launched their very own self-developed massive mannequin merchandise in the beginning of 2023. Slower firms like Tencent and Kuaishou have additionally launched their very own massive mannequin merchandise.
On the annual all-staff assembly in January 2024, ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo additionally talked about that the corporate didn’t begin discussing GPT till 2023, whereas different large-scale mannequin startups within the trade had been based between 2018 and 2021.
Though it might appear a bit sluggish, trying again now, as a latecomer within the area of AI, ByteDance’s AI Dream Manufacturing unit has now begun to take form and is beginning to focus its efforts on catching up with main home firms.
Focus inner sources to vigorously develop AI.
In January 2023, ByteDance established its first large-scale mannequin staff. The language massive mannequin staff is led by the Byte Search Division, with a present staff measurement of round a dozen individuals. The picture massive mannequin staff is led by the Clever Creation Staff underneath the Product R&D and Engineering Structure Division, and has drawn help from some personnel from the Search Enterprise Division, AI Lab, and Software Machine Studying Staff to help the language massive mannequin. Moreover, Zhu Wenjia, who was beforehand chargeable for TikTok know-how in Singapore, has been known as again to China to function the enterprise chief of the staff.
In early Might 2023, “Chinese language Entrepreneur” journal revealed that Zhang Yiming, the founding father of ByteDance, was busy learning a collection of papers from OpenAI and sometimes learn till late at evening. “He desires to determine what precisely occurred on the opposite facet of the Pacific Ocean,” mentioned an individual near him.
By mid-2023, ByteDance has stepped up its efforts on this enterprise by mobilizing some technical and administration executives to speed up the development of a mature massive mannequin system, aiming to achieve the initiative extra shortly within the “battle of huge fashions” competitors. The heads of some enterprise strains have successively transferred to the big mannequin staff, together with Lu You, head of Douyin’s social accountability. At the moment, ByteDance’s analysis and improvement on massive fashions has additionally entered deep waters, and shortly launched its self-developed “Yunque Giant Language Mannequin,” turning into a key product for ByteDance to construct massive fashions.
Based mostly on the “Yunque Giant Language Mannequin,” ByteDance has began testing a number of AI services and products, similar to My AI in Feishu, in addition to an AI dialogue take a look at mission codenamed Grace. An worker of ByteDance who had participated within the Grace mission informed Tech Planet, “Internally, this mission is extremely valued as a result of it might evolve into Douyin’s first AI product. Subsequently, everybody was working time beyond regulation to good this product at the moment.”
In August of the identical 12 months, the mission codenamed Grace formally unveiled its mysterious veil and was named “Dou Bao”, giving ByteDance a product that may actually compete with Baidu‘s “ERNIE Bot” and Alibaba‘s “Qwen-VL” in the identical class.
By the second half of 2023, ByteDance started integrating its earlier massive mannequin staff and different enterprise items to determine the Move division, which additionally grew to become ByteDance’s vanguard in AI know-how analysis and product improvement. Move drew on inner senior administration and enterprise spine to function the respective leaders of this division. Along with Zhu Wenjia and Zhu Jun talked about above, Hong Dingkun, Vice President of Expertise at ByteDance, serves because the technical chief of this division, with three-party collaboration advancing AI progress. Lately, Qi Junyuan, Vice President of Feishu merchandise has additionally transferred to Move.
After the institution of Move, it has a number of product groups underneath its jurisdiction. For instance, the AI software platform “Coze” lately launched in China and Coze abroad are created by the Bot Studio staff. The product groups for “Dou Bao” and abroad “Cici” have reached round 50 individuals, with a further ten or so chargeable for creating the abroad product “Cici.” An insider revealed that there’s a lot of collaboration between varied enterprise items inside Move, however they’re additionally short-staffed. Since November final 12 months, Move has been opening up a lot of positions to soak up personnel from different enterprise departments by means of inner transfers.
However ByteDance isn’t the one division engaged on AI. Each senior administration and workers are very optimistic about AI. Lately, Zhang Nan introduced his resignation as CEO of Douyin Group and shifted her focus to CapCut. Insiders near CapCut revealed that over the previous 12 months, Zhang Nan has devoted most of her power to CapCut-related enterprise and personally led the staff in looking for breakthroughs in AI-assisted creation, making ready to launch a product for AI-generated photos and movies. In her private WeChat Moments, Zhang Nan acknowledged that 2024 marks her tenth 12 months with the corporate and he or she hopes to pursue some passions within the subsequent decade, rising together with this period of AI.
SEE ALSO: Zhang Nan Resigns as CEO of Douyin Group to Focus on ByteDance’s CapCut
Surprisingly, Da Li Training, which has been silent for practically 3 years, has additionally begun to take frequent actions within the area of AI. Since final 12 months, senior executives of Da Li Training have been making an attempt to discover the usage of AI in schooling and making use of it to some present merchandise to realize product intelligence. Lately, associated AI merchandise have been launched quietly, with an impartial app known as “Hippo Love Studying” focusing on youngsters as an AI studying device. As well as, Da Li Training’s abroad photo-based homework assist product “Gauthmath” has additionally remodeled into an AI homework assistant.
ByteDance has a number of AI groups racing. Han Shangyou, head of Douyin, and Liu Xiaobing, head of business product know-how at ByteDance, additionally lead the mission staff to analysis the attainable mixture of AI with Douyin and industrial merchandise. On the finish of 2023, some elite members had been transferred out and a brand new staff specializing in AI purposes was established in Shanghai.
As well as, Douyin e-commerce, Douyin life providers, Volcano Engine, Ocean Engine, Juejin, and different enterprise departments have additionally roughly begun to discover within the area of AI.
From tremendous app manufacturing facility to tremendous AI manufacturing facility.
Daniel Zhang, the then CEO of Alibaba, as soon as believed that within the period of AI, all merchandise should be upgraded with massive fashions. it now, that is certainly the case. Home web platforms repeatedly apply AI to their core companies and speed up the launch of latest AI merchandise on conventional tracks.
ByteDance isn’t any exception. Its AI merchandise are primarily developed by Move, and different enterprise departments can even independently launch merchandise appropriate for their very own enterprise improvement. Presently, greater than ten AI merchandise have been launched each domestically and internationally.
In China, Move has adopted a ‘making dumplings’ type of product improvement. Along with merchandise like Dou Bao and Coze which have already been launched, there are two AI merchandise in inner testing and improvement phases known as “Hualu” and “PicPic”, which might be launched on the proper time.
Within the “Hualu”, customers can chat and create tales with AI intelligences, and have interactive experiences. The “Hualu” additionally helps customers in creating AI digital characters and story creation. By setting character attributes, names, voices, and many others., a model new intelligence will be created.
One other new AI product from ByteDance, PicPic, is about to be launched by Move. It might be a product associated to clever picture creation. As it’s nonetheless within the inner analysis and improvement stage, it is going to take a while earlier than its full image will be recognized.
Move’s Dou Bao, with the assistance of channels similar to Douyin for promotion, had reached 2 million month-to-month lively customers in December final 12 months, and doubled to 4 million in January this 12 months.
ByteDance’s AI merchandise are making efforts, and a few core and vital enterprise providers have been launched on-line.
Because the second half of final 12 months, Douyin has utilized AI to go looking, social networking, and content material creation. It has launched AI search characteristic “AI Search”, AI emotional chatbot “Douyin Xiaoqing”, in addition to AI inventive features. Some key companies have additionally launched AI providers, similar to Ocean Engine making a product for e-commerce content material creation known as “Jichuang”, and Jianying creating an AIGC picture creation product known as “Dreamina”.
Additionally, from the ByteDance’s official recruitment web site, it may be seen that Douyin e-commerce and Douyin life-style providers are recruiting positions similar to clever inventive product managers, and will launch associated AI merchandise.
ByteDance’s AI merchandise will not be solely flourishing domestically, but additionally always launching AI merchandise abroad. Completely different from home AI merchandise, ByteDance’s abroad AI merchandise are primarily based on third-party massive fashions created overseas. Presently, ByteDance has successively launched the AI device assortment “ChitChop,” the AI chatbot “Cici,” the AI software improvement platform “Coze,” and the interactive product “BagelBell” abroad. After its launch, Cici as soon as ranked first within the total rankings of Google Play in Argentina and Peru shortly after its launch, whereas hovering across the high 10 positions within the Philippines and Indonesia, shortly capturing rising markets.
Can the AI tremendous manufacturing facility of ByteDance succeed?
AI is progressively infiltrating ByteDance’s product line, accelerating the absorption of suggestions from finish customers, selling the optimization of product efficiency and enterprise, enhancing the adaptability in numerous situations. On the identical time, the restructured product line can be anticipated to boost the aggressive boundaries of primary enterprise.
For instance, Douyin can robotically generate fantastic video enhancing and particular results by means of AI know-how. It will probably additionally use AI clever suggestions to deliver orders for e-commerce and native life. This not solely brings a extra clever, personalised, and environment friendly expertise but additionally will increase person retention and satisfaction whereas attaining new income development.
As well as, the abroad growth of AI merchandise will assist ByteDance additional broaden its share within the world market. A few of ByteDance’s abroad merchandise similar to Resso and Lemon8 have already achieved important efficiency worldwide. If these AI merchandise going overseas are operated correctly, they’ll higher adapt to cultural and language variations in numerous nations and areas, present personalised and customised services and products, improve person stickiness, and enhance market share.
Like most home platforms in China, ByteDance can even face important challenges.Whether or not it’s earlier social competitions, group group shopping for, or the metaverse, web giants have flocked to them, however most of them have failed. AI is much more tough to achieve than the aforementioned industries.
Whether or not it’s earlier social competitions, group group purchases, or the metaverse, main web firms have flocked to them, however most of them have failed. AI is much more tough to realize success in than the aforementioned industries.
Particularly when it comes to know-how, in areas similar to machine studying, machine notion, and information applied sciences, there’s a want for large-scale information accumulation and coaching. It took practically 8 years from the institution of OpenAI’s ChatGPT to the product touchdown. In contrast to most web firms, ByteDance didn’t particularly give attention to researching massive fashions till final 12 months. It may be mentioned that ByteDance continues to be within the “0 to 1” stage when it comes to massive mannequin improvement, and overcoming and upgrading technological boundaries will nonetheless take a while.
And, massive fashions are additionally very expensive. In accordance with Guosheng Securities’ report “How a lot computing energy does ChatGPT want,” the estimated value of coaching GPT-3 as soon as is about $1.4 million. In accordance with a report launched by OpenAI, the approximate value of coaching ChatGPT is round $47 million. Coaching a mannequin much like ChatGPT requires big useful resource funding, and ByteDance has additionally ordered over $1 billion value of GPUs from NVIDIA in 2023.
However within the present context of “lowering prices and growing effectivity”, tips on how to preserve a excessive stage of funding within the area of AI know-how will grow to be a subject that giant firms similar to ByteDance should face. Vigorously pursuing AI desires, ByteDance undoubtedly nonetheless has an extended technique to go.
SEE ALSO: The ByteDance Version of GPTs “Coze” Is Now Online