Elon Musk admits xAI used OpenAI technology to train Grok

When questioned under oath about whether xAI had distilled OpenAI’s proprietary technology, Musk initially deflected, claiming that all AI firms engage in similar methods. He eventually conceded the point with a reluctant "partly," later framing the process as a standard industry technique used to validate AI systems.

This admission highlights the deepening divide over intellectual property in the artificial intelligence sector. While distillation is common for creating efficient, smaller models, major labs like OpenAI and Anthropic increasingly view the practice as a form of theft. Companies are now implementing defensive measures to block "distillation attacks" intended to replicate their capabilities at a fraction of the development cost. The lack of clear legal boundaries leaves the industry in a volatile gray area where collaboration and competition frequently blur.