TikTok slashes hundreds of jobs in AI shift

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Social media platform TikTok said it will slash hundreds of jobs, with a significant number of employees in Malaysia expected to be affected, as the company shifts to AI-assisted content moderation.

TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, said Friday it would cut several hundred jobs around the world, without providing a breakdown by country.

Less than 500 jobs in Malaysia are expected to be affected by the move.

A TikTok spokesperson said that the job cuts were part of an effort to boost content moderation.

“We expect to invest $2 billion globally in trust and safety in 2024 alone and are continuing to improve the efficacy of our efforts, with 80 percent of violative content now removed by automated technologies,” the spokesperson said in a brief statement.

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The company uses a combination of human moderators and automated detection to review content posted on the platform.

The restructuring follows months of speculation that TikTok was planning to significantly reduce its global operations and marketing workforce.

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According to the company website, ByteDance has over 110,000 employees based out of more than 200 cities globally.

The layoffs also come as tech giants face increased regulatory pressure in Malaysia, where a surge of malicious content on social media was reported earlier this year.

The government of the Southeast Asian country has since asked social media platforms to apply for an operating license to tackle rising cybercrime, including online fraud, sexual crimes against children, and cyberbullying.