Savitt jasked Musk if his artificial intelligence company, xAI, had ever “distilled” technology from OpenAI.
“Generally A.I. companies distill other A.I. companies,” Musk answered.
“Is that a ‘yes’?” Savitt asked. Musk answered, “Partly.”
Distillation has become an increasingly important issue as companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have complained that Chinese companies are distilling their systems.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/30/technology/openai-tr...
Excerpt:
Savitt jasked Musk if his artificial intelligence company, xAI, had ever “distilled” technology from OpenAI.
“Generally A.I. companies distill other A.I. companies,” Musk answered.
“Is that a ‘yes’?” Savitt asked. Musk answered, “Partly.”
Distillation has become an increasingly important issue as companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have complained that Chinese companies are distilling their systems.