Conflict of Interest

ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, fired two former employees and withheld bonuses for violating ethics policies. An internal memo revealed a conflict of interest involving undisclosed relationships and false statements during the investigation. The ex-wife of one employee publicly thanked ByteDance for its handling of the situation, which stemmed from social media allegations concerning infidelity and abuse of power.

ByteDance terminated two former employees involved in its Doubao large language model team for violating conflict of interest policies. A Seed team employee and their supporting HRBP failed to disclose their close relationship and made false statements during an investigation. The company dismissed both employees, withheld bonuses, and highlighted its commitment to ethical standards amid rapid AI growth. This follows a broader crackdown on internal misconduct at ByteDance.