TikTok’s parent company says it has fired an intern it said “maliciously intervened” in its artificial intelligence efforts.

In a statement released Monday in Chinese, its parent company, ByteDance, said the intern had committed a “serious violation” against its commercial technology team’s “research project.”

In particular, the trainee’s actions impacted ByteDance’s AI training program, the company said. In the AI ​​world, companies are trying to program AI applications by “training” them with massive amounts of data to recognize patterns, understand context, and make decisions – in other words, “learning.”

It is not clear which aspect of the AI ​​model the intern is accused of interfering with. A spokesperson for ByteDance did not respond to a series of follow-up questions.

TikTok’s algorithm, powered in part by some AI processes, is seen as the most lucrative element of the app. And in China, ByteDance operates the country’s most popular AI chatbot, Doubao, which is similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

ByteDance said media reports suggesting it stood to lose tens of millions of dollars as a result of the intern’s actions were a “serious exaggeration” and that no commercial projects or online activities were affected.

TikTok remains one of the most popular apps in the world. Although the US passed a law this year that paved the way for the app to be banned here, ByteDance has already started legal action to challenge it.

Meanwhile, both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have signaled a softer stance on the ban as they campaign for president.

Trump has reversed the position he took as president when he supported a ban to say such a move would ultimately benefit Facebook.

Harris, meanwhile, has made ample use of TikTok during her presidential campaign, and she has called for a change in ownership rather than an outright ban.