Microsoft sells OpenAI models to major Chinese tech companies

Microsoft has been selling OpenAI artificial intelligence models to major Chinese technology companies through its Azure cloud service. OpenAI itself refuses to sell directly to Chinese firms because it worries about theft of its technology and harmful use. But Microsoft has its own sales policy for China and does not apply stricter checks to Chinese customers. ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, is Microsoft's biggest AI customer and will likely spend over one billion dollars a year on these services. Ant Group, Meituan, and Tencent also buy OpenAI models this way. OpenAI has complained privately that Microsoft is not doing enough to stop Chinese companies from copying its models through a technique called distillation.