OpenAI accuses Chinese startup of stealing its AI models
OpenAI just called out Chinese companies—especially a startup named DeepSeek—for allegedly copying its AI models with a trick called "distillation."
Chris Lehane, OpenAI's Chief Global Affairs Officer, raised the issue at the NDTV Ind.AI Summit and said OpenAI has shared evidence with US government officials.
Distillation is a process that extracts info from AI models
Distillation lets companies pull info from AI models without touching their actual code, which OpenAI says puts their intellectual property at risk.
Lehane described it as part of a bigger global struggle over who controls powerful tech like AI.
He warned AI will be central to "economic and military power," framed the issue as a contest between "democratic AI or autocratic AI," and said countries including the United States and India will confront efforts to extract proprietary data.