ByteDance sues former intern for alleged code tampering, seeks US$1.1m

Chinese tech giant ByteDance has filed a lawsuit against a former intern, accusing them of altering code to maliciously disrupt internal model training and seeking 8 million yuan (US$1.10 million) in compensation.

The parent company of TikTok is also demanding a public apology from the intern, surnamed Tian, and 20,000 yuan for additional reasonable expenses, according to a civil suit accepted by the Haidian District People's Court in Beijing, as reported today by JCRB.com, the Supreme People's Procuratorate's website.

An internal memo, released on November 5, alleged that between June and July 2024, Tian, dissatisfied with resource allocation, intentionally tampered with code, significantly disrupting a research project’s model training. ByteDance terminated his internship and reported the incident to Tian’s school.

ByteDance clarified that the attack only impacted a research project within its commercial technology team, dismissing online claims of "tens of millions of dollars in losses" as gross exaggerations.

The company stated that Tian was dismissed in August 2024 and pursued legal action due to Tian's refusal to acknowledge the gravity of his actions, which breached ByteDance's security protocols.