AI: DeepSeek and Kimi Allegedly Redirected Queries to Claude Without Users' Knowledge

Thunderbolt in the technology sector! Chinese authorities are scrutinizing two of its AI champions: DeepSeek and Moonshot AI (the AI company behind Kimi). They are suspected of redirecting millions of queries to the AI model Claude from the American firm Anthropic, all without notifying their users. For users, this battle between AI models now transcends technological competition. It raises a crucial question: what happens to their data when a query switches models without their knowledge? In brief

• China is investigating DeepSeek and Moonshot for data leaks to the AI Claude.
• Anthropic accuses Moonshot of 23 million exchanges via 5,380 fake accounts.
• DeepSeek allegedly generated 12.1 million suspicious exchanges in 14 days in July.
• Seven AI companies were initially targeted, but only two remain under investigation today.
• The investigation comes just before the Trump-Xi summit on September 24. The shadow of a massive data transfer shakes the AI ecosystem {#h-the-shadow-of-a-massive-data-transfer-shakes-the-ai-ecosystem}

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has just opened an investigation into DeepSeek and Moonshot AI. The Chinese Internet regulator wants to know if sensitive data (including police, military, or state-owned enterprise-related information) ended up on American servers via the AI Claude. Officials have visited the offices of both AI companies to question executives and employees.
Reported by The Information, the procedure follows the publication of a 154-page intelligence report by Anthropic on September 10, 2026. The document accuses seven AI companies of "illicit distillation". The list includes:

• Alibaba;
• Moonshot;
• DeepSeek;
• Zhipu;
• MiniMax;
• SenseTime;
• Xiaomi. How AI Claude May Have Been Siphoned by 5,380 Fake Accounts {#h-how-ai-claude-may-have-been-siphoned-by-5-380-fake-accounts}

In its intelligence report, Anthropic claims that Moonshot routed over 23 million exchanges to Claude through 5,380 fraudulent accounts. DeepSeek, for its part, allegedly generated over 12.1 million exchanges in just fourteen days in July. In total, this represents over 35 million conversations potentially used to feed a competing AI without authorization. Certainly, this practice is not new in the AI sector. It is common to train a model on the outputs of another AI model. What poses a problem according to Anthropic is the use of fake accounts to circumvent usage limits. In this same context, the AI company has been denouncing since the beginning of 2026 the plundering of its technology by Chinese start-ups that would resell Claude's responses at a lower cost. An immediate shockwave on financial and tech markets

The announcement of this procedure immediately cast a chilling effect

The tech sector is experiencing turmoil. As Asian stock markets opened, AI-related stocks plummeted dramatically. Why? Investors now fear heavy administrative sanctions or a complete network access shutdown for the two targeted AI firms. The American giant Anthropic has not delayed in responding. It plans to implement strict rules on the use of its programming interfaces. For some, the timing couldn't be worse. DeepSeek is set to present its AI risk assessment this week to the United Nations Security Council, alongside Anthropic's CEO, Dario Amodei. The session falls on the eve of the September 24 summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Naturally, the AI dossier is on the agenda. Moonshot AI is not faring any better. On September 3, 2026, the AI company filed a confidential application for an IPO in Hong Kong. It aims to raise $3 billion for a valuation of $50 billion. Any disclosed regulatory investigation must appear in the prospectus before the listing can proceed. Certainly, no sanctions have been imposed so far. That said, a procedure initiated by Beijing complicates matters significantly for these two giants of Chinese AI. A chart showing the evolution of certain AI-related stock prices. Source: AAStocks Is there a global tightening of digital AI regulation on the horizon? By orchestrating this legal offensive, the Chinese government sends a clear signal to all its tech champions: data sovereignty takes precedence over the speed of development. This AI scandal could indeed prompt regulators worldwide to impose strict monitoring of user requests. Several experts believe that this enhanced digital regulation will stifle innovation in the short term. However, it will help to clean up the practices of certain companies. Financial markets are already factoring this increased regulatory risk into the valuations of startups. It remains to be seen how AI developers will adapt their infrastructures to prove the legitimate origin of their training data. In any case, this investigation into AI exposes (once again!) the excesses of a frenzied technological race where ethical rules are sometimes trampled. As governments intensify their controls, the real question is whether tomorrow's artificial intelligence will be able to reconcile algorithmic power with absolute respect for privacy.

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