TikTok CEO Sees AI Breakthrough Within Two to Three Years

TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew said artificial intelligence could help produce a major scientific breakthrough within two to three years, while warning that its longer-term capabilities and security risks deserve attention. Speaking at the DBS Asia Future Forward Conference in Singapore on October 12, Chew forecast that AI could contribute to a breakthrough in physics, biotechnology, chemistry or materials science. His prediction was an outlook, not evidence that such a discovery has already occurred. He also said people may be overestimating AI’s impact in the short term while underestimating its potential over a longer period. Chew’s comments come as TikTok parent ByteDance develops AI for scientific research as well as consumer applications. In April, ByteDance’s Seed research team unveiled Protenixv2, a model designed to predict and help design biomolecular structures. The work could have applications in drug discovery, although the model’s announcement does not establish that it has produced a scientific or medical breakthrough. The prospect of increasingly capable systems also raises questions about oversight, Chew said.