Against the backdrop of the booming artificial intelligence field, ByteDance's Doubao large model team (Seed) recently held an all-hands meeting, marking a significant decision regarding the team's future direction. The meeting was co-hosted by Zhu Wenjia and the newly appointed head of AI fundamental research, Wu Yonghui. This was the first time the two leaders appeared together, attracting widespread attention from the industry.
At the meeting, Zhu Wenjia and Wu Yonghui clearly stated that Seed's primary goal is to "explore the upper limits of intelligence," which will be the core guiding principle for the team's future work. They pointed out that exploring the boundaries of intelligence is a long-term undertaking, and the team will conduct in-depth research around the already-released AGI research plan, "Seed Edge." Zhu Wenjia mentioned that encouraging team members to participate in challenging research topics and explore uncertain and forward-looking AI technologies will be a key focus this year.
Wu Yonghui emphasized the importance of fundamental research and stated that the team will increase resource investment in the Seed Edge project, including providing more computing power to support long-term research and development. He mentioned that Seed hopes to become an organization that can attract and cultivate top talent, emphasizing that utilizing and cultivating internal talent is key to the team's success.
Regarding organizational culture, the meeting also discussed how to enhance the team's openness and inclusiveness to foster an innovative environment. To this end, ByteDance decided to cancel the Edge project's quarterly OKRs and semi-annual assessments, aiming to provide the team with a more stable research environment and reduce pressure from performance evaluations. Wu Yonghui hopes that this change will improve the team's creativity and the depth of its research.
Furthermore, the team mentioned that they may consider open-sourcing some smaller Dense models in the future to promote the technology's application within the community. This move will not only help enhance the Seed team's influence but also facilitate external collaboration and exchange.
This all-hands meeting not only demonstrates ByteDance's ambition in the AI field but also lays a solid foundation for future development.
