Jan 28 (Reuters) - Microsoft ( MSFT ) and OpenAI are

probing if data output from the ChatGPT maker's technology was

obtained in an unauthorized manner by a group linked to Chinese

artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek, Bloomberg News

reported on Tuesday.

Microsoft's ( MSFT ) security researchers observed that, in the fall,

individuals they believed to be connected to DeepSeek

exfiltrating a large amount of data using the OpenAI's

application programming interface (API), the report said.

OpenAI's API is the main way that software developers and

business customers buy OpenAI's services.

Microsoft ( MSFT ), the largest investor for OpenAI, notified the

company of suspicious activity, according to the Bloomberg

report.

Low-cost Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, an alternative to U.S.

rivals, sparked a tech stock selloff on Monday as its free AI

assistant overtook OpenAI's ChatGPT on Apple's ( AAPL ) App

Store in the United States.

David Sacks, the White House's AI and crypto czar, told Fox

News in an interview earlier on Tuesday that it was "possible"

that DeepSeek stole intellectual property from the United

States.

"There's substantial evidence that what DeepSeek did here is

they distilled the knowledge out of OpenAI's models," Sacks

said.

An OpenAI spokesperson echoed Sacks in a statement, noting

that China-based companies and others were constantly attempting

to replicate the models of leading U.S. AI companies, without

specifically naming DeepSeek or any other company.

"We engage in counter-measures to protect our IP, including

a careful process for which frontier capabilities to include in

released models, and believe as we go forward that it is

critically important that we are working closely with the U.S.

government to best protect the most capable models from efforts

by adversaries and competitors to take U.S. technology."

OpenAI did not directly address comments on the Bloomberg

report.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) did not immediately respond to Reuters' request

for a comment outside regular business hours, while DeepSeek

could not be immediately reached for a comment.