In a federal courtroom in California, Elon Musk testified that his AI startup xAI has used OpenAI's models to improve its own through a process known as model distillation.
Model distillation is a technique where one AI model is used to train another, with the larger model acting as a "teacher" and the smaller model as a "student." While often used legitimately within companies using their own models, it has become controversial when used with competitors' models.
When asked directly whether xAI had distilled OpenAI's technology, Musk initially avoided a direct answer, saying that "generally all the AI companies" do such a thing. When pressed further, he said "partly" and added that "it is standard practice to use other AIs to validate your AI."
The testimony has sparked debate about the ethics and legality of model distillation. Companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have accused Chinese firms of distilling their models, with OpenAI publicly stating its concerns about DeepSeek.
Google has also taken steps to prevent what it calls "distillation attacks," describing them as "a method of intellectual property theft that violates Google's terms of service."
The Musk v. Altman trial continues, with both sides presenting evidence about the future of OpenAI and its relationship with xAI.
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