Chinese social media giant TikTok is restructuring its content operations to focus more on artificial intelligence (AI), resulting in significant layoffs across its global workforce. The downsizing is primarily impacting teams involved in content moderation, with Malaysia set to experience the brunt of the cuts, where over 500 employees will lose their jobs.
As a subsidiary of ByteDance, TikTok appears to be aligning with its parent company’s strategy to increase revenue by investing more heavily in AI. The affected employees have reportedly been notified via email about their termination.
TikTok currently uses a hybrid system that combines automated AI tools and human moderators to review content posted on the platform. According to recent reports, the platform aims to have AI automatically remove 80% of content that violates its guidelines.
ByteDance, which operates in more than 200 cities worldwide and employs over 110,000 people, is expected to implement further layoffs as it looks to consolidate regional operations.
A TikTok spokesperson commented, “These changes are part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen our global operating model for content moderation.”
Additionally, TikTok plans to invest $2 billion this year in enhancing platform security, with a focus on using AI to more effectively manage inappropriate content.
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