OpenAI, Valued At $157 Billion And Facing Numerous Copyright Infringement Cases
AI-related equities experienced a significant drop on Monday, with Nvidia, a leading chipmaker, leading the way with a 17% decline, resulting in a loss of approximately USD $600 billion in market capitalization. However, a rebound on Tuesday managed to recover some of those losses.
The cause of the turmoil appears to be linked to DeepSeek, a startup that claims to have developed a chatbot with capabilities similar to those of US-made chatbots, but at a fraction of the cost and resources required by the US models. DeepSeek states that it only spent $5.6 million in creating the chatbot, significantly less than the over $100 million spent by OpenAI on ChatGPT-4.
Intellectual Property Theft Allegations
Recent reports suggest that DeepSeek may have achieved this through intellectual property theft. It is reported that OpenAI, the creator of the ChatGPT chatbot that caused a surge in global AI interest a few years ago, is investigating whether DeepSeek infringed on its intellectual property while developing its R1 artificial intelligence model.
Bloomberg revealed that Microsoft, OpenAI's primary backer, alerted the AI company of a potential breach. Subsequently, OpenAI denied DeepSeek access to ChatGPT, as reported by the Financial Times.
Legal Battles and Allegations
This conflict highlights a shift in the ongoing struggle between copyright holders and AI developers. Notable figures such as The New York Times, Sarah Silverman, George R.R. Martin, and GEMA have filed legal complaints against OpenAI, accusing the company of training its AI on copyrighted material without proper authorization.
In response to these claims, OpenAI is facing scrutiny not only from these entities but also from the US government. The company is working to safeguard its intellectual property, particularly against alleged efforts by foreign entities to replicate US technology.
Impact on AI Development
The use of distillation to train AI models has come under the spotlight, with DeepSeek allegedly utilizing ChatGPT-4 in a manner that violates OpenAI's service policies. This practice of leveraging existing models to train new ones is not uncommon, raising concerns among researchers about regulating such actions.
OpenAI and other AI developers are now reevaluating their stance on intellectual property rights in light of these events, as the industry grapples with ensuring fair use of copyrighted material in AI training.
Source: Music Business Worldwide
