TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has cautioned that many people are adopting AI agents without fully understanding the permissions they grant. Speaking at the DBS Asia Future Forward Conference in Singapore on Monday, he said users may give agents extensive access to act on their behalf without grasping the implications. As an example, he noted that agents provided with credit-card details to make purchases can become “overly eager to deliver” and buy far more than requested. Chew added that TikTok is training its own staff not to share trade secrets or privileged legal information in public chats with AI agents. He stressed the need to understand the boundaries of reasonable and acceptable use, observing that people are sometimes over-enthusiastic about the technology. The comments come amid a surge in personal AI agents from companies including Meta, OpenAI and others, alongside reported cases of agents taking unintended actions such as posting sensitive data or placing oversized orders.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has cautioned that many people are adopting AI agents without fully understanding the permissions they grant. Speaking at the DBS Asia Future Forward Conference in Singapore on Monday, he said users may give agents extensive access to act on their behalf without grasping the implications. As an example, he noted that agents provided with credit-card details to make purchases can become “overly eager to deliver” and buy far more than requested. Chew added that TikTok is training its own staff not to share trade secrets or privileged legal information in public chats with AI agents. He stressed the need to understand the boundaries of reasonable and acceptable use, observing that people are sometimes over-enthusiastic about the technology. The comments come amid a surge in personal AI agents from companies including Meta, OpenAI and others, alongside reported cases of agents taking unintended actions such as posting sensitive data or placing oversized orders.