OpenAI and Microsoft are investigating whether DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, improperly used OpenAI's data to train its large language model, R1. DeepSeek's model has been reported to outperform OpenAI's while using less money and older chips. The investigation centers on whether DeepSeek used a technique called distillation to learn from OpenAI's models without permission. This has raised questions about data ownership and usage in the AI industry.