Did DeepSeek copy ChatGPT to make new AI chatbot? Trump adviser thinks so [Video]

Did the upstart Chinese tech company DeepSeek copy ChatGPT to make the artificial intelligence technology that shook Wall Street this week?

That’s what ChatGPT maker OpenAI is suggesting, along with U.S. President Donald Trump’s top AI adviser. Neither has disclosed specific evidence of intellectual property theft, but the comments could fuel a reexamination of some of the assumptions that led to a panic in the U.S. over DeepSeek’s advancements.

“There’s substantial evidence that what DeepSeek did here is they distilled the knowledge out of OpenAI’s models,” David Sacks, Trump’s AI adviser, told Fox News on Tuesday. “And I don’t think OpenAI is very happy about this.”

DeepSeek and the hedge fund it grew out of, High-Flyer, didn’t immediately respond to emailed questions Wednesday, the start of China’s extended Lunar New Year holiday.

OpenAI said in a statement that China-based companies “are constantly trying to distill the models of leading U.S. AI companies” but didn’t publicly call out DeepSeek specifically.

OpenAI’s official terms of use ban …