ByteDance pioneers "Doubao Stock"! Issuing independent options to block Tencent poaching, launching the AI talent defense war

Big Tech's AI talent war has begun! To fend off aggressive poaching by rivals like Tencent, ByteDance recently unveiled a trump card, issuing for the first time ever an independently-linked "Doubao Stock" option to employees of its large-model Seed AI division. This marks ByteDance's first-ever issuance of options exclusive to a single business unit, currently priced at $13, allowing employees to directly enjoy the dividends of the AI boom without being diluted by the group's other businesses. However, the bureaucratic concerns stemming from the Seed team's explosive growth to 2,000 people remain an internal challenge ByteDance urgently needs to overcome. (Previously: Still typing with ChatGPT? You're behind the times! 7 must-have AI agent work methods for 2026 will skyrocket productivity and shock your boss) (Background: Google and Meta researchers jointly call out: AI Agent security isn't a model problem, it's a system problem) As the generative AI race enters deep waters, the "talent grab" among Chinese tech giants is rapidly heating up. To safeguard the top-tier large-model teams they've painstakingly cultivated, ByteDance recently launched an unprecedented incentive initiative. According to the UK's Financial Times and market sources, ByteDance officially opened subscription rights for special options called "Doubao Stock" this month to employees of its Seed Lab, which oversees the core strategy for AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). This is the first time since ByteDance's founding that it has issued special options tied to a single business unit. ByteDance's overall option buyback price currently remains at a high of approximately $226 to $229, but as a "sub-unit" incentive, Doubao Stock's pricing appears more accessible and explosive. Reportedly, the subscription price opened this month to Seed employees globally is approximately $13 per share, up nearly 30% from $10 per share at the end of 2025, fully reflecting the significant improvements in the Doubao large model's commercialization and model performance. Through this model of "business-line independent virtual stock + buyback channel," Seed division employees can directly share in the growth returns of the AI business without being diluted by the performance of ByteDance's other massive business lines. In fact, there have been earlier signs of ByteDance's heavy spending to retain AI talent. Previously, ByteDance had issued substantial additional option subsidies to core Seed technical employees, distributed monthly at 90,000 to 135,000 RMB based on performance and seniority, for 18 consecutive months, with cumulative value reaching the million-RMB level. The reason ByteDance is so urgently doubling down on retention stems mainly from ruthless poaching by competitors. Since the Seed Lab's establishment in 2023, ByteDance has attracted a large number of top researchers thanks to its massive computing power investments (becoming Nvidia's largest customer in China). However, since acknowledging at the end of 2025 that its large model development had fallen behind, Tencent has launched a fierce counterattack. Led by former OpenAI researcher Shunyu Yao, Tencent recently conducted intensive targeted poaching, successfully recruiting senior Seed visual platform member Xiao Xuefeng and infrastructure expert Zhang Chi, among others. Although "Doubao Stock" offers generous potential financial returns, ByteDance still faces internal growing pains from organizational expansion. Some insiders revealed that the Seed Lab team has now swelled to 2,000 people, causing the internal structure to face severe challenges of bureaucratization and fragmentation of responsibilities. In contrast, Tencent currently favors smaller AI team configurations and promises researchers broader autonomy, management responsibilities, and highly attractive compensation packages, becoming the key weapon for successful poaching. Beyond the duel between ByteDance and Tencent, another star AI unicorn, DeepSeek, is also caught up in this talent melee. Facing the pressure of ByteDance having successfully poached several of its core infrastructure members in 2025, DeepSeek is currently actively raising its first round of funding from investors, hoping to retain its core team through more substantial capital. The battle for China's top AI minds has clearly only just entered its most intense second half.