ByteDance's AI Core Department Seed Undergoing Major Restructuring, Dr. Wu Yonghui May Become Key Figure

 According to several individuals close to ByteDance, the AI core department, Seed, is undergoing rapid strategic adjustments and personnel changes. Dr. Wu Yonghui, an authority in the AI field who recently joined ByteDance from Google and participated in the development of Gemini, will take over from Zhu Wenjia, the former head of the LLM team and Seed, becoming the new head of the Seed department. Currently, the team is reorganizing and adjusting reporting relationships.

Insiders at ByteDance have stated that Dr. Wu Yonghui will primarily be responsible for exploring fundamental research in AI, focusing on the basic research field; Zhu Wenjia will continue to handle model application-related work, focusing on the application of models. Both will be part of the Seed department and report directly to ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo.

It is reported that Zhu Wenjia previously managed both the Seed department and the Flow department (model application), but now will only be responsible for model application. Even if his rank remains unchanged, this adjustment signifies a contraction in Zhu Wenjia's management scope. The timing of this personnel change is noteworthy. Just last week, during an all-hands meeting at ByteDance, CEO Liang Rubo reflected on the company's shortcomings in the AI field and pointed out the slow pace of follow-up on significant technologies.

Various signs indicate that ByteDance is reorganizing its AI business structure. The Seed department, led by Dr. Wu Yonghui, will clearly focus on fundamental model research and development, no longer mixing with application and other business areas. This reflects a significant shift in ByteDance's AI strategy, moving from rapid expansion at the application level to a deep construction of underlying technological strength.