TikTok Owner ByteDance Quietly Launched 4 Generative AI Apps Powered By OpenAI’s GPT

Forbes

TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, has quietly launched four new generative AI apps for users outside of China, Forbes has learned. Dubbed Cici AI, Coze, ChitChop, and BagelBell, the apps were all launched in the past three months and collectively have millions of downloads.  The websites and policies for new apps Cici AI, ChitChop, Coze, and BagelBell don’t mention that they were made by ByteDance. Three of them are run by Spring (SG) Pte. Ltd., a new ByteDance subsidiary, and the fourth is run by Poligon Pte., a ByteDance subsidiary that has published erotic web novels and video games for ByteDance in the past.  Cici and ChitChop are largely focused on entertainment, offering bots based on fictional characters and romantic companions, while Coze provides bots intended to simplify workplace tasks. Cici is the most popular of the apps so far, with more than 10 million downloads, according to the Google Play store.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2024/01/16/tiktok-bytedance-ai-chatbots-openai/?sh=24dac881a240  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Thursday, January 18th.

00:05 Today on Forbes, TikTok owner ByteDance quietly launched four generative AI apps powered by

00:12 OpenAI's GPT.

00:16 Forbes has learned that TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, has quietly launched four

00:21 new generative AI apps for users outside of China.

00:25 Dubbed CCAI, Coase, Chitchop, and BagelBell, the apps were all launched in the past three

00:32 months and collectively have millions of downloads.

00:35 CCAI, Chitchop, and Coase are bot creation platforms that let users make and share their

00:42 own chatbots.

00:44 BagelBell generates the plot and text of fictional stories that change based on readers' choices.

00:51 But ByteDance did not build the underlying large language models that power them.

00:55 Instead, the apps rely on OpenAI's GPT technology, accessed through a Microsoft Azure license,

01:01 according to ByteDance spokesperson Jody Seth.

01:05 On the new apps' websites and in their terms of service, there is no mention of ByteDance,

01:09 whose ownership is being reported here for the first time.

01:13 Three of them are run by Spring SGPTE Ltd., a new ByteDance subsidiary, and the fourth

01:20 is run by Polygon PTE, a ByteDance subsidiary that has published erotic web novels and video

01:26 games for ByteDance in the past.

01:29 CC and Chitchop are largely focused on entertainment, offering bots based on fictional characters

01:34 and romantic companions, while Coase provides bots intended to simplify workplace tasks.

01:41 CC is the most popular of the apps so far, with more than 10 million downloads, according

01:45 to the Google Play Store.

01:48 The apps, combined with the company's launch of an AI tool to generate short-form videos

01:52 and reported attempts to build an AI image generator similar to Midjourney and DALI,

01:58 seem to be part of ByteDance's efforts to take on its competitors in the generative

02:02 AI space.

02:03 Facebook launched its own line of celebrity-based chatbots this past September, and Snap embedded

02:08 an AI chatbot into Snapchat in April.

02:11 Every major tech giant is working to develop their own generative AI offerings, with Microsoft

02:16 building AI assistants for many of its software tools thanks to its $10 billion partnership

02:21 with OpenAI, Google launching a new language model, Gemini, to compete with GPT-4, and

02:28 Amazon integrating generative AI products into its Alexa smart speaker.

02:33 Of ByteDance's four new apps, only one, Coase, is currently available in the U.S., and none

02:39 are available in the EU.

02:42 It's common for tech giants to test products first in smaller markets with less regulatory

02:46 scrutiny before expanding into the U.S. and the EU.

02:50 Asked about ByteDance's plans for the apps, spokesperson Jody Seth described them as "still

02:56 in the testing phase" and declined to share further details about the company's plans

03:00 for them.

03:01 It's unclear if these apps would or could ever be integrated into TikTok, though earlier

03:06 this year, ByteDance ran a test that integrated an AI chatbot called TAKO into the TikTok

03:13 app.

03:15 ByteDance has a history of liberally launching test apps, then sunsetting any that don't

03:19 stick.

03:20 Before it debuted TikTok in the U.S., the company launched, and eventually deprecated,

03:24 a trivia app, a funny GIF app, and a news aggregator app.

03:29 Its offerings across the world continue to grow and change.

03:32 Current offerings include a WhatsApp competitor in Africa, a Spotify competitor in Southeast

03:37 Asia, and a Twitter competitor that was recently discontinued in Brazil.

03:42 It's not surprising that ByteDance is also launching generative AI apps in Western markets,

03:46 given the recent surge in demand for bots, and ByteDance's breakout success with TikTok.

03:52 But the move could inspire future scrutiny from regulators already concerned that the

03:56 Chinese government could lean on ByteDance employees to collect private information about

04:01 foreigners or use the company's control over their information diets to feed them pro-China

04:06 messages.

04:07 People often trust bots with sensitive personal information, which makes them a potentially

04:12 rich source of valuable data.

04:14 And bots are notoriously unable to explain why they give the responses that they do,

04:19 which makes them a potentially effective conduit for covert influence.

04:24 For full coverage, check out Emily Baker White's piece on Forbes.com.

04:30 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:32 Thanks for tuning in.

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