Beijing – ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok and a major player in China’s burgeoning AI landscape, is reportedly accelerating adjustments to its AI strategy, with its AI assistant Doubao currently undergoing small-scale testing of a deep thinking model. However, in a notable divergence from industry trends, this model is not integrated with DeepSeek, the open-source AI model that has recently taken the Chinese tech world by storm. Instead, ByteDance is opting for a self-developed approach.
According to Z Finance, the Doubao team is experimenting with different versions to optimize performance. While a direct deep thinking function isn’t yet visible to all users, some testers are already experiencing a chain of thought presentation in Doubao’s responses, suggesting a move towards more complex reasoning capabilities beyond simple chatbot interactions.
This development comes at a crucial juncture for ByteDance’s AI division, particularly in the wake of DeepSeek’s open-source release. While other major Chinese tech companies are rapidly integrating DeepSeek to leverage the benefits of open-source technology, Doubao’s continued reliance on in-house development has reportedly created internal pressure within ByteDance.
Doubao’s insistence on a self-developed route, coupled with a seemingly slow response to the DeepSeek open-source wave, has made ByteDance feel the pressure from the market, Z Finance reported.
The pressure seems to be manifesting in organizational changes. Recently, Dr. Wu Yonghui, former Vice President of Google DeepMind, joined ByteDance as the head of basic research for the large model team Seed. Subsequently, several algorithm and technology leaders who previously reported to Zhu Wenjia, the head of ByteDance’s AI lab, now report to Dr. Wu.
This shift in reporting lines suggests potential internal dissatisfaction with the progress of models under Zhu Wenjia’s leadership. Sources cited by Z Finance indicate that the team size dedicated to these models is potentially 5 to 10 times larger than that of Tongyi Qianwen, Alibaba’s AI model, yet the output has been less than ideal, especially considering DeepSeek’s impressive achievements with a relatively lean team.
Despite these internal pressures, Zhu Wenjia, now reportedly focused on model applications, expressed optimism at ByteDance’s recent All Hands meeting. He acknowledged a challenging start to the year but highlighted the progress made in 2024, noting that Doubao has become the leading AI application in China in terms of daily active users (DAU), with its underlying visual understanding, text-to-image, and text models reaching the team’s top tier.
However, DeepSeek’s emergence during the Chinese New Year holiday disrupted this sense of accomplishment within ByteDance’s large model team. Furthermore, competitors are rapidly catching up. Tencent’s Yuanbao AI assistant, after integrating the full version of DeepSeek-R1 on February 13th, saw a surge in downloads, surpassing Doubao on the Apple App Store’s free app chart within ten days. On February 21st, Yuanbao’s DAU reached 500,000, approaching half of Doubao’s average DAU. This shift challenges Doubao’s position as a leading C-end AI application, despite its impressive 75.23 million monthly active users (MAU).
The situation underscores the intense competition in China’s AI market and the strategic decisions companies face regarding open-source versus proprietary development. ByteDance’s decision to pursue a self-reliant path for Doubao’s deep thinking model, while potentially risky, could ultimately differentiate it from competitors and establish a unique technological advantage. The coming months will be crucial in determining whether this strategy will pay off in the long run.
References:
- Z Finance. (2024). 速递｜字节AI加速调整，豆包正测试深度思考模型，暂未接入DeepSeek [ByteDance AI Accelerates Adjustments, Doubao is Testing Deep Thinking Model, Not Yet Connected to DeepSeek]. Retrieved from [Insert Original Article Link Here – if available]
- 界面新闻 [Jiemian News]. (Mentioned in Z Finance article).
Note: Since a direct link to the original Z Finance article wasn’t provided, I’ve included a placeholder. If you have the link, please replace [Insert Original Article Link Here – if available] with the actual URL.
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