ChatGPT Maker Suspects China’s Dirt Cheap DeepSeek AI Models Were Built Using OpenAI Data — and the Irony Is Not Lost on the Internet

OpenAI has voiced concerns that China's DeepSeek AI models, known for their remarkably low cost, may have been developed using data from OpenAI. This week, Donald Trump labeled DeepSeek a wake-up call for the U.S. tech industry following a significant drop in Nvidia's market value—nearly $600 billion.

The emergence of DeepSeek triggered a sharp decline in the stock prices of major AI companies. Nvidia, a leading supplier of GPUs crucial for AI model operation, experienced the steepest fall, with a 16.86% drop—a record on Wall Street. Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Dell Technologies also saw declines ranging from 2.1% to 8.7%.

DeepSeek promotes its R1 model as a significantly cheaper alternative to Western counterparts like ChatGPT. Built on the open-source DeepSeek-V3, it reportedly requires less computing power and had an estimated training cost of just $6 million. While this claim is disputed by some, it has raised questions about the billions invested by American tech companies in AI, unsettling investors. DeepSeek's popularity surged, reaching the top of the U.S. most downloaded free app chart amid growing discussions about its capabilities.

Bloomberg reported that OpenAI and Microsoft are investigating whether DeepSeek leveraged OpenAI's API to integrate OpenAI's AI models into its own. OpenAI acknowledged that Chinese companies, among others, continuously attempt to extract data from leading U.S. AI companies. This "distillation" technique, a violation of OpenAI's terms of service, involves training AI models using data from larger, more powerful ones.

OpenAI emphasized its commitment to protecting its intellectual property, employing countermeasures and collaborating with the U.S. government to safeguard its most advanced models. David Sacks, President Donald Trump's AI czar, suggested evidence points to DeepSeek distilling knowledge from OpenAI models, prompting anticipated preventative measures from leading AI companies.

The situation highlights the irony of OpenAI's position, given accusations of its own use of copyrighted internet data in creating ChatGPT. Ed Zitron, a tech PR writer, commented on the hypocrisy.

OpenAI previously stated that creating AI tools like ChatGPT without copyrighted material is impossible. In a submission to the UK's House of Lords, OpenAI argued that training large language models necessitates access to copyrighted work, citing the vast scope of copyright protection.

The use of copyrighted material in training AI models has become a major industry debate. The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for the alleged unlawful use of its work, while OpenAI defended its actions as "fair use." This followed a lawsuit by 17 authors, including George R. R. Martin, alleging widespread theft. Further complicating the issue, a 2018 U.S. Copyright Office finding ruled that AI art cannot be copyrighted.