"When Asked 'Did You Steal OpenAI Technology?' DeepSeek's Response"
"It Feels Like Being Accused of 'Copying Homework'"
DeepSeek Responds to Allegations
The founder of DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup, has been showing a 'reclusive stance.' Meanwhile, a prominent Chinese state-affiliated commentator has been actively promoting DeepSeek day after day.
On the 31st, Yonhap News reported a post shared on social media platform Weibo by Hu Xijin (胡錫進), former editor-in-chief of the Chinese state-run media Global Times, on the 29th. He asked, "There are suspicions that DeepSeek stole OpenAI's model technology from the U.S. Please answer honestly," and then revealed DeepSeek's response.
DeepSeek's initial response was "frustrating." They added, "It feels like someone suddenly accuses you in class, saying 'You copied your homework.' We clearly stayed up all night solving the problems ourselves. Anyone working in the AI industry stands on the shoulders of giants, don't they?"
The metaphor of "standing on the shoulders of giants" is interpreted to mean that academic progress is not achieved solely through the efforts of an individual but builds upon previous achievements. It is a phrase attributed to Isaac Newton, the founder of classical mechanics.
DeepSeek further questioned, "OpenAI's model was never publicly released in the first place, and even internal employees reportedly do not know all the training data. So where exactly did we steal from?"
Former editor Hu Xijin predicted that the suspicions against DeepSeek have political motives. DeepSeek replied, "We are terrified by the computational costs and our eyes get strained from refining data, and this process cannot be imitated. We think these suspicions stem from commercial competition or geopolitical conflicts."
Hu Xijin also noted that the atmosphere regarding DeepSeek's emergence is completely different between the U.S. and China. He pointed out that the Chinese government has not made any official statements about DeepSeek. He added, "The founder, Liang Yuanfeng, recently attended a government roundtable, but it is unknown what he said, and the media have not been able to interview him."
He continued, "The situation in the U.S. is the exact opposite," saying, "Former U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned it directly, and tech stocks in the U.S. stock market even plummeted."
He explained, "This was not orchestrated by China but happened naturally. Although it is true that China's overall technological capability does not match that of the U.S., this incident has proven that it possesses tremendous explosive power."
The day before, Hu Xijin also disclosed that in response to the question, "Can DeepSeek be suppressed by a series of U.S. efforts?" DeepSeek answered, "The more frantically the U.S. tightens bans, the more their fear is revealed."
Hot Picks Today
Meanwhile, as the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek surprised the U.S. with its low cost and excellent performance, the U.S. government and companies have begun serious countermeasures. The White House has started assessing the impact of DeepSeek on U.S. national security, and OpenAI has launched an investigation into whether DeepSeek infringed on its intellectual property (IP) and used it for AI training.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
