Douyin CEO Steps Down as ByteDance Focuses on AI Race

(Bloomberg) — Kelly Zhang, the head of ByteDance Ltd.’s Douyin business unit, is stepping down. The move comes a week after ByteDance’s Chief Executive Officer Liang Rubo said the company needed to avoid complacency and make up lost ground in the AI race.

Zhang is relinquishing the post of Douyin Group CEO, a ByteDance spokesperson said on Wednesday, confirming an earlier report in Chinese media. She took on the role in 2020, sharing responsibilities with ByteDance China Chairman Zhang Lidong. ByteDance will not seek to appoint a successor and Zhang will shift her focus to the video-editing app CapCut, according to a person familiar with the matter.