This case discusses how Chinese tech startup ByteDance grew into one of the fastest growing internet startups in the world powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Valued at US$75 billion, ByteDance offered a global portfolio of content discovery platforms that entertained and informed users in over 150 markets and 75 languages. It developed a suite of apps built around AI. While the company’s flagship product, Toutiao, was the largest AI-powered content discovery platform in China that delivered personalized news to users based on their interests, its popular short form video app TikTok was one of the most downloaded apps. ByteDance was one of the first companies to apply AI technology and machine learning to content discovery and distribution apps. The case elucidates the benefits that the company derived from leveraging AI, including the roll-out of innovative apps, and gaining a foothold in China’s ultra-competitive app ecosystem. In just six years of its launch, ByteDance emerged as a leading global tech player rivaling tech giants such as Facebook, Google, Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent in influence. TikTok surged ahead to become one of the fastest-growing social media apps in the world with about 500 million active users globally as of August 2019. The case discusses the challenges faced by ByteDance in the global internet market and how sustaining its growth was of utmost importance to the company amid tough competition, slowing economic growth in China, and regulatory pressure in China as well as global markets such as the US and India as authorities clamped down on its popular TikTok apps over inappropriate content. The case also explores the potential downside to extreme focus on AI, including availability of data, privacy concerns, cost and maintenance, and skills shortage.

IT and Systems Case Studies | Case Study in Management, Operations, Strategies, IT and Systems, Case Studies

IT and Systems Case Studies Case Studies | Case Study in Management, Operations, Strategies, IT and Systems, Case Studies

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Issues

The case is structured to achieve the following teaching objectives:

	Understand the basics of AI and its importance to tech companies.
	Understand the role of AI in developing innovative products, services, and digital platforms.
	Understand the factors that contributed to ByteDance’s success.
	Understand the limitations of AI, and analyze the challenges that organizations have to confront when they deploy AI tools.
	Explore ways through which ByteDance could further leverage AI to main its lead in AI innovation and emerge as a dominant player in the global tech space.

Contents

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND NOTE

LEVERAGING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

KEY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE POWERED PRODUCTS

Keywords

Artificial intelligence, Breakthrough Innovation, Online Content Moderation, Content Creation, Business Analytics, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Predictive analytics, Actionable insights, Deep learning, Content Lifecycle, Social Product Development, Competitive Advantage, Strategic Management, Innovation

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