Microsoft (MSFT) and OpenAI are investigating whether a group connected to the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek accessed OpenAI’s data without permission, according to a new report.

Both OpenAI and Microsoft are reportedly probing the Chinese startup to check if it accessed and used OpenAI’s technology to build its R1 reasoning large language model.

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella had some kind words for DeepSeek, the Chinese artificial intelligence startup that roiled his company’s shares earlier this week. The upstart stunned the US tech industry with an open-source AI model called R1 that it claims rivals or outperforms the abilities of western technology but at a