Fireship - DeepSeek stole our tech... says OpenAI
OpenAI is accusing Deep Seek of intellectual property theft, claiming they used OpenAI's outputs to fine-tune their models through a process called distillation, which is against OpenAI's terms of service. This accusation comes as Deep Seek, a Chinese hedge fund-backed AI model, reportedly surpassed OpenAI's capabilities with significantly less investment. The situation is further complicated by the emergence of other competitive Chinese AI models, such as Alibaba's Quen 2.5 Max and Kim 1.5, which are challenging OpenAI's dominance. Despite the accusations, no concrete evidence has been provided, though Microsoft has reported suspicious data extraction activities linked to Deep Seek. The video also highlights the growing trend of open-source AI models, which are becoming increasingly efficient and accessible, encouraging developers to leverage these tools for innovation.
Key Points:
- OpenAI accuses Deep Seek of using their outputs for model fine-tuning, violating terms of service.
- Deep Seek reportedly developed a superior AI model with minimal investment, challenging OpenAI.
- Emerging Chinese AI models are intensifying competition, potentially surpassing OpenAI.
- Microsoft observed suspicious data extraction activities possibly linked to Deep Seek.
- Open-source AI models are gaining traction, offering developers new opportunities for innovation.
Details:
1. 🌐 OpenAI vs Deep Seek: The IP Battle
1.1. OpenAI's Accusation of IP Theft
1.2. Impact on Business Relations
2. 🤖 Chinese AI Models Disrupting the Market
- A Chinese hedge fund developed a state-of-the-art reasoning model that surpassed Open AI's capabilities, showcasing advanced AI features.
- The development cost of the Chinese model was $5.5 million, significantly lower than typical industry costs, demonstrating a cost-effective approach to AI development.
- The model was offered to the public with a 100% discount, challenging the business models of major tech companies, including Open AI, and altering market dynamics.
- Open AI and other tech giants have been promoting the narrative that AI development is expensive, requiring investments like $500 billion Stargate data centers, which is contradicted by the Chinese model's cost efficiency.
- Chinese companies are employing competitive strategies in the AI market that include offering superior technology at lower costs, thus posing a significant threat to established players.
3. 🕵️♀️ Allegations of IP Theft and Irony
- David Sachs, part of the PayPal Mafia, accuses Deep Seek of stealing OpenAI's outputs to fine-tune their models, contravening OpenAI's terms of service.
- Deep Seek's method, known as distillation, is explicitly prohibited by OpenAI, highlighting a direct violation.
- OpenAI has faced its own criticisms for using internet data, including copyrighted material, without explicit permissions, adding an ironic dimension to these allegations.
- Understanding distillation: This technique involves compressing a larger model's knowledge into a smaller one, which in this case, allegedly involved unauthorized use of OpenAI's data.
- The broader implications: This case underscores ongoing tensions in AI about data usage rights and ethical AI development practices.
4. 💼 Tech Industry's Shady Practices and Copyright Battles
- Tech companies often engage in questionable practices, opting to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. This strategy is exemplified by companies like Uber and Airbnb, which have disrupted traditional industries by initially ignoring regulations.
- OpenAI has largely succeeded in its copyright infringement battles, demonstrating that tech companies can prevail in legal disputes despite engaging in controversial practices. This success may inspire other tech firms to adopt similar tactics.
- A conspiracy theory suggests OpenAI used Deep Seek as a marketing strategy, illustrating the complex and sometimes opaque strategies employed by tech companies to gain public attention and market dominance.
- Tech leaders, such as Sam Altman of OpenAI, are perceived as persuasive and potentially deceptive. This reflects a broader industry culture where strategic manipulation is common to maintain a competitive edge.
- For instance, Uber's initial growth relied heavily on operating in legal grey areas, while Airbnb often clashed with local housing laws, both highlighting a willingness to prioritize growth over compliance.
5. 📊 Deep Seek's Distillation Controversy
- Deep Seek is accused of using distillation, transferring knowledge from larger models like GPT-3 to smaller models, by OpenAI and Microsoft.
- No conclusive evidence has been presented, but screenshots show Deep Seek's responses closely resemble those of ChatGPT, implying unauthorized use.
- Microsoft detected substantial data extraction from OpenAI's API by accounts linked to Deep Seek, suggesting potential misuse.
- While distillation is common and not inherently controversial, it becomes problematic when used to create a competing model directly from an API, which is the focus of OpenAI's complaint.
- This controversy highlights the ethical and legal challenges in AI development, particularly around fair use and intellectual property.
6. 🚀 AI Race: China vs China and Global Implications
- Alibaba's release of Quen 2.5 Max, an open model, outperforms DeepSeeker, Claude, and GPT 40 on benchmarks, highlighting significant advancements in AI capabilities.
- The new Chinese model Kim 1.5 reportedly surpasses OpenAI's earlier models, indicating China's rapid progress in AI technology.
- The AI competition within China is intensifying, suggesting a shift where the U.S. might be falling behind, while Europe focuses on different technological innovations.
- DeepSeeker faces criticism for its high censorship levels, although it can be bypassed by skilled prompt engineers, which raises concerns about content control.
- DeepSeeker has launched the Jan series models for diffusion-based image generation, which are open for commercial use, marking a step forward in accessible AI applications.
7. 🔍 Deep Seek's Technical Prowess and Privacy Concerns
- Deep Seek achieved 10x better efficiency than other models by bypassing Nvidia's Cuda and using Nvidia parallel thread execution directly, akin to building a website with assembly code.
- A major criticism of Deep Seek is that using it on the web sends all prompts, data, and keystrokes to China, raising privacy concerns.
- Open source is gaining traction, and developers are encouraged to build products with open source tools like Post Hog.
- Post Hog is an open-source, self-hostable tool with a free plan, offering features like product analytics, session replay, and AB testing, with easy implementation through web, mobile, and server-side SDKs.