TikTok CEO Shou Chew predicts an AI-driven science breakthrough within three years
Speaking on October 12 at DBS Bank's Asia Future Forward Conference in Singapore, TikTok CEO Shou Chew said AI is likely to deliver a real scientific breakthrough within two to three years, naming physics, biotech, chemistry and materials science. He also said people probably overestimate AI in the short term and underestimate it in the long term, and described AI's cybersecurity risks as "quite real," citing users granting agents broad permissions — for example an agent that buys more than intended while rushing to finish a task. He said TikTok's parent ByteDance is exploring how to work with scientists on scientific progress; per a 钛媒体/NextFin account, ByteDance's Seed team released Protenix-v2 for biomolecular structure prediction and design in April, and spun out its AI drug-discovery unit as Anew Labs in June, which later raised $290 million at a $1.5 billion valuation.
A major consumer platform executive is framing AI's next chapter around scientific discovery, though the timeline is his own projection rather than a demonstrated result.