Tech 15/3: Meta may lay off about 20% of staff as AI costs rise; ByteDance delays Seedance 2.0 video AI launch amid copyright concerns

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has decided to pause the global launch of Seedance 2.0, an AI video-creation model, due to copyright disputes with Hollywood studios and streaming platforms, according to The Information. Disney has sent cease-and-desist letters accusing ByteDance of illicitly using characters from Star Wars and Marvel to train the model. Some Seedance 2.0 generated videos, such as Tom Cruise vs. Brad Pitt, circulated widely in China, raising IP concerns. Seedance 2.0 was promoted as a tool to assist film production, e-commerce, and advertising, but to mitigate legal risk the company is adding safeguards to prevent the creation of infringing content. Meta is preparing to lay off around 20% of staff as the cost of AI infrastructure remains enormous, Reuters reported. The move aims to address AI infrastructure costs and to prepare for deploying AI to boost operational efficiency. There is no specific date for the layoffs yet, but the scale is described as the largest since 2022. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pushed Meta to compete aggressively in AI, with plans to invest up to $600 billion in data-center infrastructure by 2028 and to spend billions acquiring AI startups. Zuckerberg argues that AI will reduce the need for human labor as many projects can be performed by a small team or a few standout individuals. Meta is not alone; Amazon and Block also reduced tens of thousands of employees in the past year, citing AI-driven efficiency gains, though Meta's plan raises concerns about social impact as tens of thousands of jobs could be affected in a short period. China is developing a wheel-legged robot designed to support a lunar research station by 2035, with wheel-based mobility in a lattice frame to operate on the Moon’s harsh terrain and extremely low temperatures. The robot’s flexible design includes a waist that can rotate 180 degrees and a four-degree-of-freedom hand, enabling precise manipulation. The project is part of the plan to build an International Research Station at the Moon’s south pole, with the robot playing a key role in reducing reliance on astronauts for routine tasks.