OpenAI has leveled serious accusations against China’s DeepSeek, claiming that the latter secretly utilized OpenAI’s data to train its own rival chatbot. This development comes shortly after more than a dozen authors, including George RR Martin, initiated legal proceedings against OpenAI in September 2024, accusing it of “systematic theft on a mass scale” for allegedly training its models by scraping the internet without proper authorization. The situation has sparked significant debate over the ethics of AI technology and the protection of intellectual property.
DeepSeek's actions have sent shockwaves through the US tech industry. Venture capitalist David Sacks, speaking to Fox News, pointed to evidence suggesting that DeepSeek "distilled knowledge out of OpenAI models." Meanwhile, OpenAI is taking proactive measures to safeguard its intellectual property. The company asserts that it has a rigorous process for determining which advanced capabilities to integrate into released models. An official statement obtained by Bloomberg and reported by the Verge underscores OpenAI's commitment to collaborating closely with the US government to shield its most advanced models from adversarial threats.
"As the leading builder of AI, we engage in countermeasures to protect our IP, including a careful process for which frontier capabilities to include in released models, and believe as we go forward that it is critically important that we are working closely with the US government to best protect the most capable models from efforts by adversaries and competitors to take US technology" – OpenAI
The accusations against DeepSeek echo a paradox, considering OpenAI itself faces scrutiny for allegedly employing similar tactics. In a separate lawsuit reported by the Guardian, the New York Times has charged OpenAI with "unlawful use" of its output to develop their chatbot. This has added another layer of complexity to the ongoing discourse on how AI technologies should navigate intellectual property rights.
OpenAI's statement also highlighted the persistent attempts by PRC (China) based companies to extract knowledge from leading US AI companies.
"We know PRC (China) based companies — and others — are constantly trying to distill the models of leading US AI companies" – OpenAI
The emergence of DeepSeek as a formidable player has prompted OpenAI to emphasize the importance of defending its intellectual property. Their models are recognized as among the most capable in the industry, a standing they intend to preserve amidst growing competition and challenges.
