JoyIn, a Suzhou-based Chinese humanoid robotics startup backed by Ant Group, accused OpenAI of directly distilling technical concepts and visual design from its Aether model. CEO Guo Renjie said JoyIn demonstrated an AI framework called "extraterrestrial visitor" in Silicon Valley weeks before OpenAI Chief Scientist Jakub Pachocki published "An Alien Mind" on September 6, citing similarities involving recursive self-improvement and using AI to optimize computing power. Guo also pointed to similarities between OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra webpage and JoyIn's space-themed Aether website, released two months earlier, and said legal proceedings had begun. The allegations have not been independently verified, and OpenAI did not immediately comment. JoyIn released Aether publicly, describing it as a perception-driven model for robot control that achieved a 90% first-attempt task-execution success rate. Model-development lead Zhu Mingxuan said Aether cuts training time by two-thirds and that JoyIn plans to open-source tactile-sensing modules while withholding modules related to energy usage. The dispute comes as US and Chinese companies trade distillation allegations and debate AI safety, alignment and the pace of development.