DeepSeek Accused of Stealing US AI Technology; Allegedly Extracted Anthropic's Claude Features

Anthropic says Chinese firms created 24,000 fake accounts to access Claude

Leading US artificial intelligence developers have accused Chinese AI startups of illegally stealing their training data. Industry sources say China is threatening America by secretly using banned US semiconductors despite the Trump administration's efforts to counter Beijing's AI ambitions on national security grounds.

Anthropic disclosed on its blog on the 23rd (local time) that it confirmed three Chinese companies—DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and MiniMax—illegally extracted features from its AI model Claude. Anthropic is a major US startup that leads the global AI market alongside OpenAI, developer of ChatGPT.

According to Reuters, a senior US administration official said the same day, "DeepSeek's latest AI model likely relied heavily on 'distilling' models from major US AI companies including Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI." The official added, "DeepSeek appears to have deleted technical indicators that would confirm use of US-made AI chips, making verification difficult."

Anthropic estimates the three Chinese companies created 24,000 fake accounts to access Claude and extracted more than 16 million conversation records.

Distillation is a technique for building models with similar capabilities based on responses from other AI models. Creating lower-tier versions of one's own models through distillation is acceptable, but extracting competitor information without authorization constitutes unfair practice. Anthropic's terms of service prohibit secretly collecting data through distillation.

"We blocked Claude access from within China for national security reasons, but Chinese companies circumvented this," Anthropic stated. "Existing models have safeguards preventing misuse for biological weapons development or malicious cyber activities, but illegally extracted models may have these safeguards removed, raising security concerns."

OpenAI also claimed in a memo submitted to the US House Select Committee on China on the 12th that "Chinese companies are extracting outputs from US AI models without authorization." The company alleges that DeepSeek, China's leading AI developer, used distillation techniques to steal OpenAI information for training its chatbot R1. Released in January last year, R1 stunned the world by achieving similar performance to ChatGPT at one-tenth the development cost.

If these claims are true, R1—which threatens ChatGPT and Claude—is actually evolving based on both models. In a paper DeepSeek released last September, the company claimed its model's training cost was just 1/300th of ChatGPT's. This suggests that while OpenAI and Anthropic invest astronomical sums developing AI models, Chinese companies are building low-cost, high-performance models through copying and patchwork to threaten US competitors.

The US suspects DeepSeek developed R1 and other models by stealing training data from American AI services. DeepSeek explained in a research paper last year that V3 was pre-trained using only general webpages and e-books, but the US countered that it actually pieced together OpenAI and Anthropic models.

Trump's new 10% tariffs take effect, expected to expand to batteries and power grids

New tariffs that President Donald Trump ordered reimposed worldwide took effect on the 24th (local time), following a Supreme Court ruling that found his reciprocal tariffs illegal. Starting at the announced 10% rate, forecasts suggest this will rise to 15% and expand to cover items including large-capacity batteries, power grids, and telecommunications equipment.

According to major news outlets, at 12:01 AM Eastern Time (2:01 PM Korea time on the 24th), new tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act were applied to all exports to the US worldwide, excluding exempt items.

Foreign media reported that Korean companies including SK On may temporarily benefit from the tariff changes.

Bloomberg analyzed that "companies from India, Turkey, Korea, and Japan such as Waaree, SK On, LG, and Panasonic now have a brief but profitable opportunity for US exports." This includes SK On's non-EV batteries. Korean batteries had faced up to 15% tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), but the new tariff imposes only 10%.

However, the effect is expected to be short-lived, as the administration plans to raise rates through additional proclamations under Section 122 and is considering new tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources, that "the US government is examining tariffs on large-capacity batteries, cast iron and iron parts, plastic pipes, industrial chemicals, power grids, and telecommunications equipment under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act."

The Commerce Department currently imposes sectoral tariffs on automobiles and parts, steel and aluminum, and derivative products—this would expand that list. It is also considering tariffs on nine additional items including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, drones, industrial robots, and polysilicon used in solar panels.

The WSJ reported the US government is also pursuing revisions to tariff methods for steel and aluminum. The plan would classify steel and aluminum derivative products into groups by metal content with differentiated rates, but apply tariffs to finished product prices rather than content value. While nominal tariff rates could appear lower, the higher tax base could actually increase payments, the WSJ analyzed. This raises the possibility of increased tariff burdens on Korean refrigerators and washing machines.

Novo Nordisk falls behind Eli Lilly even with new obesity drug

The obesity treatment market that Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have divided is being reorganized into Eli Lilly's solo dominance. As Novo Nordisk's hit products Wegovy and Ozempic lose ground to Eli Lilly's Zepbound, the Danish company is reeling after clinical results for its highly anticipated new drug fell short of expectations.

According to the Financial Times, CNBC, and other outlets on the 23rd (local time), Novo Nordisk's upcoming obesity treatment compound CagriSema showed inferior performance to competitor Eli Lilly's tirzepatide in clinical trials, sending shares down 16.5%.

The stock fell to its lowest level since Wegovy's launch in June 2021. Novo Nordisk's CagriSema achieved average weight loss of 23% in 84-week trials, below tirzepatide's 25.5%.

Novo Nordisk, considered a pioneer in obesity treatments, has struggled since last year. The company faces a triple threat: losing market share to Eli Lilly's fierce pursuit, competition from cheaper generics, and US drug price reductions. Novo Nordisk announced it expects net sales and profits to decline by up to 13% this year.

Eli Lilly, the latecomer, is advancing relentlessly. The company announced the same day that its multi-dose product QuickPen, which can administer a month's supply in four separate doses, received FDA approval. A pill-form oral obesity treatment is scheduled for launch in April, raising revenue expectations. Eli Lilly shares rose 4% on the 23rd, moving in the opposite direction from Novo Nordisk. Based on strong demand for obesity treatments, Eli Lilly said sales are expected to grow approximately 25% this year.