According to a report by The Information relayed by Reuters, Chinese artificial intelligence developers Moonshot AI and DeepSeek heavily depended on responses generated by OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra to train their newest systems. Sources with direct knowledge of the situation provided the information.
This allegation has sparked a fresh controversy surrounding distillation—a process where developers leverage outputs from a more powerful system to train an alternative model. Major AI corporations maintain that this methodology enables competitors to rapidly replicate sophisticated functions economically.
Models in Question
Two recent software rollouts are highlighted in the coverage: the Kimi K3.1 Pro from Moonshot AI, which debuted last week, and the revised V4.1-Flash 1017 by DeepSeek, released on October 17. Analysts indicate these products profited from the distillation of GPT-6 Astra.
The findings omit details on how the developers obtained Astra’s responses, the volume of data utilized, or if any platform guidelines or agreements were breached. Furthermore, the report does not confirm any legal violations by the firms.
Requests for comment sent to DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and OpenAI by Reuters went unanswered right away. At the same time, the companies have neither acknowledged nor refuted the claims regarding the employment of Astra data.
A Growing Flashpoint
As the race between American and Chinese AI creators heats up, model distillation has emerged into a significant controversy. Industry giants like Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI contend that the practice permits rivals to duplicate cutting-edge features while avoiding the substantial expenses of foundational research.
Anthropic reported that newly implemented defenses against model replication have successfully curbed data collection via distillation attacks by 90 to 99 percent. This trend highlights the measures top laboratories are taking to restrict entry to their systems.
These accusations come during a delicate period for the artificial intelligence industry in China. Both DeepSeek and Moonshot stand out as leading domestic model creators, positioning their newest software iterations as viable competitors to top-tier Western technologies.
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