ByteDance fires LLM team head over conflict of interest

ByteDance has dismissed Qiao Mu, former head of its Doubao large language model (LLM) team, following an internal ethics probe. In a notice circulated internally on Monday, the TikTok owner cited a “prohibited conflict of interest” between Qiao and a former HR business partner, with both allegedly in a personal relationship and making false statements during the investigation. Their year-end bonuses have also been withheld. Sources confirmed to Chinese media outlet Caixin that the dismissal is linked to a whistleblower report from March, which accused Qiao of an extramarital affair with the HR partner and misconduct within the team. Qiao, a former senior algorithm leader at ByteDance since 2014, played a key role in the company’s LLM development. His departure comes amid a broader internal cleanup. ByteDance said it dismissed 353 employees for rule violations in 2024, with 39 referred to the authorities for criminal charges. [Caixin, in Chinese]