Tech giants Microsoft and OpenAI are investigating whether a group linked to Chinese AI startup DeepSeek obtained data from OpenAI's systems in an unauthorised manner. The allegations, reported by Bloomberg News, have added fuel to the fire in an already heated competition for dominance in artificial intelligence.

According to the report, Microsoft's security team detected suspicious activity last fall, when individuals believed to be connected to DeepSeek allegedly extracted large amounts of data using OpenAI's application programming interface (API). The API is a critical tool that allows developers and businesses to access OpenAI's services, including its flagship ChatGPT model. Microsoft, which is OpenAI's largest investor, promptly notified the company of the potential breach.

The allegations come just days after DeepSeek made headlines for overtaking OpenAI's ChatGPT on Apple's US App Store, sparking a selloff in tech stocks. The Chinese startup has been praised for its low-cost, high-performance AI models, which some experts believe could rival those developed by US firms. However, the latest claims have cast a shadow over its rapid rise.

David Sacks, the White House's AI and crypto czar, added weight to the allegations during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday. He suggested that DeepSeek may have "distilled the knowledge" from OpenAI's models, effectively stealing intellectual property. "There's substantial evidence that what DeepSeek did here is they distilled the knowledge out of OpenAI's models," Sacks said.

According to a report by Reuters, when asked for comment, an OpenAI spokesperson did not directly name DeepSeek but acknowledged that companies based in China and elsewhere constantly attempt to replicate the models of leading US AI firms. The spokesperson emphasised that OpenAI is taking steps to protect its intellectual property, including carefully selecting which capabilities to include in released models. The company also highlighted the importance of collaborating with the US government to safeguard advanced AI technologies from adversaries.

The allegations against DeepSeek come at a time of heightened tensions between the US and China over technological supremacy.