OpenAI Bans Developer Again Over Alleged Distilling; User Denies and Calls for Local Models
On September 5, well-known AI developer QuixiAI (author of Knowns/roborant) posted that his OpenAI account had been banned again, with the official reason given as "Distilling"—and the ban landed on his birthday, with no prior warning or communication.
Confirmed
- QuixiAI's OpenAI account was banned for "distillation," the second time the account has been banned.
- He denies distilling any model or training any competing model, says he is not an OpenAI competitor, and finds the stated reason baffling.
- He coined the slogan "Not your weights, not your AI," urging people to switch to local models.
Unconfirmed
- The specific evidence and detection mechanism behind OpenAI's "distillation" determination—the affected party received no explanation, so whether it is a false positive cannot be verified.
Why it matters
- The incident has reignited debate over the risk of unilateral account bans on commercial closed-source API services: platforms can terminate service at any time based on internally judged violations, leaving users without appeal or communication channels.
- Commenters noted that GPU owners aren't surprised—"you can't count on commercial AI" is already consensus—and the event may further drive adoption of local deployment and open-source models.
2026-09-05 ~ 2026-09-05 · 5 related posts
Primary sources
- [source] OpenAI Bans User's Account for "Distilling" — He Says He's Not Training Anything, Urges Going Local — QuixiAI · 2026-09-05
- Dev Says OpenAI Banned His Account Again, Citing 'Distilling' He Denies Doing — QuixiAI · 2026-09-05
- Developer banned by OpenAI on his birthday for 'distilling' he denies doing — QuixiAI · 2026-09-05