ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, is hiring American talent for at least 17 roles related to healthcare and science, Forbes reported Jan. 3.
The open roles — primarily based in New York, California and Washington state — are on the company's "AI for Science" and "AI for Drug design" teams. According to job postings analyzed by Forbes, the science AI team is focused on tackling challenges in natural sciences, including biology, physics, materials and molecular dynamics — including the pursuit of computer-aided drug discovery and free energy methodologies. The drug design team aims to "revolutionize drug discovery."
"We are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of AI-driven drug design, tackling complex challenges in protein structure prediction, molecular conformation analysis, and computational protein design," one job listing said. "By combining our passion for scientific excellence with the transformative power of AI, we aim to accelerate drug discovery and make a meaningful impact on global healthcare."
This is not ByteDance's first venture into the healthcare industry. Last year, the company bought the Chinese hospital chain Amcare for $1.5 billion. In 2020, it acquired online medical encyclopedia Baikemy and launched the platform Xiaohe, which offers online medical consultations.
However, the company's piqued interest in U.S. healthcare and pharmaceuticals raises questions for some experts — including Eric Perakslis, PhD, former chief science and digital officer at Durham, N.C.-based Duke Clinical Research Institute and chief research technology strategist at Duke University School of Medicine, and former chief scientist for informatics at the FDA.
Many TikTok users speak openly about their medical conditions and experiences with different treatment methods, which could be valuable feedback for a company looking to "revolutionize drug discovery." Dr. Perakslis suspects the intentions run even deeper.
"They could be doing large-scale hypothesis generation with all this data, and then they could be feeding that data into Chinese pharmaceutical companies or Chinese weapons manufacturers," Dr. Perakslis said. "The same technologies that allow us to develop new medicines can be used for bioweapons. It's a very similar set of capabilities."
Neither TikTok nor Bytedance responded to Forbes' requests for comment.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this article stated that Dr. Perakslis was still employed by Duke Health. His employment there ended in November 2023. This article was updated Jan. 5 at 1:55 p.m.