TikTok lays off hundreds of employees globally amid AI pivot
Popular social media platform TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, has announced a major cut in its global workforce. The move comes as the company shifts its strategy toward greater use of artificial intelligence (AI) for content moderation. A large chunk of these layoffs will hit employees in Malaysia, where over 700 job cuts were first reported by Reuters. However, TikTok later clarified that fewer than 500 Malaysian employees are affected.
Content moderators bear the brunt of layoffs
Most of the affected employees were members of TikTok's content moderation team. They were informed about their termination through email on Wednesday. Responding to Reuters, TikTok confirmed these layoffs and said several hundred employees worldwide would be affected by this decision. The exact number of job cuts remains undisclosed due to different local employment regulations in different countries.
ByteDance's future plans and investment in trust, safety
ByteDance, which has over 110,000 employees across 200+ cities globally, is also planning more layoffs next month. This is part of its effort to streamline some regional operations. "We're making these changes as part of our ongoing efforts to further strengthen our global operating model for content moderation," a TikTok spokesperson said. The company also announced plans to invest $2 billion globally in trust and safety this year.
AI efficiency in content moderation and regulatory pressure
The spokesperson further emphasized that 80% of guideline-violating content is now removed by automated technologies. This comes as tech companies are under increased regulatory scrutiny in Malaysia. The Malaysian government has asked social media platforms to secure an operating license by January, as part of efforts to curb cybercrimes. Earlier this year, Malaysia witnessed a surge of harmful social media content and urged companies like TikTok to step up their monitoring efforts.
