OpenAI has voiced concerns that China's DeepSeek AI models, known for their low cost, may have been developed using data from OpenAI. This has prompted a strong reaction, with Donald Trump calling DeepSeek a wake-up call for the U.S. tech industry following a significant drop in Nvidia's market value—a loss of nearly $600 billion. The emergence of DeepSeek triggered a sharp decline in the stock prices of major AI-focused companies. Nvidia, a dominant player in GPU technology crucial for AI model operation, experienced the most substantial loss, with a 16.86% drop—the largest in Wall Street history. Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Dell Technologies also saw significant declines.
DeepSeek promotes its R1 model as a cost-effective alternative to Western counterparts like ChatGPT, leveraging the open-source DeepSeek-V3, which reportedly requires considerably less computing power and was trained for an estimated $6 million. Although this claim has faced scrutiny, it has raised questions about the substantial investments made by American tech companies in AI, unsettling investors. DeepSeek's popularity surged, reaching the top of the U.S. most downloaded free app chart, fueled by discussions surrounding its effectiveness.
Bloomberg reported that OpenAI and Microsoft are investigating whether DeepSeek utilized OpenAI's API to integrate OpenAI's AI models into its own. OpenAI acknowledged that Chinese companies, among others, actively seek to leverage leading U.S. AI companies' models, citing "distillation"—a technique violating OpenAI's terms of service. OpenAI emphasized its commitment to protecting its intellectual property and collaborating with the U.S. government to safeguard its technology.
David Sacks, President Trump's AI czar, suggested evidence points to DeepSeek's use of OpenAI models through distillation. He anticipates that leading AI companies will implement measures to prevent this practice.
The situation highlights a degree of irony, given OpenAI's own past accusations of utilizing copyrighted internet content in the creation of ChatGPT. Ed Zitron, a tech PR writer, highlighted this hypocrisy on Twitter.
OpenAI previously acknowledged the reliance on copyrighted material for training large language models like ChatGPT in a submission to the UK's House of Lords communications and digital select committee, stating that excluding copyrighted works would significantly limit the capabilities of AI systems. This stance is further complicated by ongoing lawsuits, including one from the New York Times alleging unlawful use of its work, and another from 17 authors claiming "systematic theft." OpenAI maintains that its training practices constitute "fair use." The complexities surrounding copyright in the context of AI training remain a significant and evolving challenge for the industry.
