Investing.com-- Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is investigating whether a group linked to China’s DeepSeek obtained data output from OpenAI technology in an unauthorized manner, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Microsoft security researchers had observed individuals they believe may be linked to DeepSeek extracting a large amount of data using the OpenAI application programming interface, or API, the Bloomberg report said, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Software developers can access OpenAI’s proprietary data, specifically their AI models, by paying for an API license. Microsoft is among OpenAI's biggest investors, and heavily incorporates its AI models in its products.
DeepSeek rattled global markets with the launch of its R1 model last week, which appeared to match the performance of bigger rivals such as ChatGPT while using older hardware and a fraction of their budgets.
DeepSeek- which is backed by Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer- also upended ChatGPT to become the most downloaded free application on the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) app store.
But the model raised some questions over whether DeepSeek had accessed confidential and proprietary training data from ChatGPT and its peers to build the model.
DeepSeek’s release sparked an extended rout in U.S. technology shares, particularly in chipmakers and in companies investing hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure.
Market darling NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) wiped out nearly $600 billion in value within a day. Microsoft shares had also fallen sharply on Monday, but rebounded from these losses on Tuesday, with the company set to release its December-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday.