OpenAI Data Fuels China's DeepSeek AI?

OpenAI has voiced concerns that China's DeepSeek AI models, known for their low cost, may have been developed using OpenAI's data. This revelation, coupled with DeepSeek's market impact, prompted Donald Trump to call it a wake-up call for the U.S. tech industry. Nvidia, a major player in GPU technology crucial for AI, suffered a historic stock market plunge of 16.86%, impacting other tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Dell.

DeepSeek's R1 model, built on the open-source DeepSeek-V3, boasts significantly lower training costs (estimated at $6 million) compared to Western counterparts like ChatGPT. While this claim is disputed by some, it has raised questions about the massive investments made by American tech companies in AI, unsettling investors. DeepSeek's popularity surged following discussions about its effectiveness, reaching the top of the U.S. free app download chart.

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 frequently attempt to extract data from leading U.S. AI companies, a practice violating OpenAI's terms of service. They emphasized their commitment to protecting intellectual property and collaborating with the U.S. government to safeguard advanced AI models.

David Sacks, President Trump's AI czar, suggested evidence points to DeepSeek using a technique called distillation—extracting data from larger models—to train its own. He anticipates that leading AI companies will implement measures to prevent this practice.

The situation highlights the irony of OpenAI's position, given previous accusations of its own data sourcing practices. Criticisms have surfaced regarding OpenAI's use of copyrighted internet content in creating ChatGPT. OpenAI itself previously stated that creating AI tools like ChatGPT without copyrighted material is impossible, a claim reiterated in a submission to the UK's House of Lords. This stance contrasts sharply with its current concerns about DeepSeek.

The use of copyrighted material in training AI models is a significant issue, as evidenced by lawsuits filed against OpenAI and Microsoft by the New York Times and 17 authors, including George R. R. Martin. While OpenAI defends its actions as "fair use," these legal challenges underscore the ongoing debate surrounding copyright and AI development. A 2018 U.S. Copyright Office ruling further complicates the matter by stating that AI-generated art cannot be copyrighted due to the lack of a "nexus between the human mind and creative expression."