ByteDance forbids distillation of rival AI models

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Chinese tech giant ByteDance’s founder reportedly forbade AI researchers from distilling rival models, as scrutiny of the practice causes friction between Washington and Beijing.
The policy reportedly dates to 2023, predating the period when “avoiding US retaliation” became a potential commercial priority, the Pekingnology newsletter wrote.
Notably, ByteDance is not one of the firms American AI lab Anthropic has accused of distilling — charges that prompted US sanction threats.
The guidelines sparked intense debate at ByteDance, whose best models have been surpassed by smaller Chinese labs, highlighting the competitive pressures facing the industry as Beijing presses for better AI built with less compute.
US models currently offer better value, The Economist wrote, but the “convergence is likely to continue.”

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