21CTO

Aug 7, 2026 · Artificial Intelligence

Zhang Yiming Bars Model Distillation to Prioritize Independent AI Development

In a rare internal briefing, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming ordered the Seed AI team to abandon model distillation as a shortcut for leaderboard rankings, accepting short‑term performance loss to focus on long‑term, self‑reliant AI research amid escalating US‑China tech tensions.