Beware! Dify becomes the biggest victim of DeepSeek open source

Written by

Iris Vance

Updated on:July-09th-2025

Dify has become the biggest victim of DeepSeek's open source ecosystem: infringement and technical dilemma behind the pseudo " all-in-one machine " .

Most of the so-called DeepSeek all-in-one machines are just Dify UI modified , infringing Dify's intellectual property rights, and not retaining Dify 's UI logo as required by Dify . This kind of infringement is easy to win a lawsuit, and what's worse is that there is no service and maintenance capability for technical problems.

With the rise of the domestic AI large model DeepSeek , its open source ecosystem has attracted a large number of developers and companies to participate.

This prosperity hides hidden concerns : many commercial products named "DeepSeek all-in-one machine" are actually infringing products that tamper with the code of the open source project Dify . These behaviors not only infringe intellectual property rights, but also damage user rights due to lack of technical capabilities, and ultimately threaten the sustainable development of the entire open source ecosystem.

1. Failure to comply with open source agreements and rampant infringement

As an open source AI application development framework, Dify 's core value lies in lowering the development threshold through modular design, allowing developers to build customized tools based on its code.

Some manufacturers have targeted the market popularity of DeepSeek and simply modified the Dify code, then directly packaged it as a "DeepSeek all-in-one machine " for commercial promotion. This behavior has constituted multiple infringements:

1. Violation of open source agreement: Dify adopts the modified version of Apache 2.0 agreement, which adds two key restrictions on the basis of retaining the original open source freedom:

According to the agreement, any product that uses Dify's front-end code (web/directory or Docker's "web" image) must retain the original LOGO and copyright information.

However, the investigation shows that all the Dify-based "DeepSeek all-in-one machines" on the market have performed the following illegal operations on the Dify console: completely replacing the Dify startup page LOGO, implanting their own brand logo, deleting the "Powered by Dify" copyright statement at the bottom of the console, and hiding the original interface elements through CSS injection technology.

This systematic tampering constitutes a substantial violation of Article 1.b of the agreement. It is worth noting that even if the infringing party claims that its product belongs to "backend use without frontend", the Dify agreement clearly defines that as long as the code containing the web/ directory or the related Docker image is run, it is considered to be using the frontend.

2. Illegal commercialization of multi-tenant services

Clause 1.a of the agreement clearly states that: Without written authorization, it is prohibited to use Dify source code to operate multi-tenant services (i.e. one Dify instance corresponds to multiple independent workspaces). However, the "Enterprise Edition All-in-One" sold by many manufacturers openly provides the following functions: Create dozens of independent tenants through the backend management system, assign exclusive API access keys to each tenant, and charge tiered fees based on the number of tenants.

2. From “ changing UI” to reputation collapse

The core problem of infringing all-in-one products lies not only in legal risks, but also in the serious lack of technical capabilities:

1. Pseudo-innovation and functional castration: Most " all-in-one machines " only make surface adjustments to Dify 's UI without optimizing the underlying architecture.

2. Vacuum of operation and maintenance capabilities: Due to the lack of in-depth understanding of open source code, infringing manufacturers are unable to provide effective technical maintenance.

3. Legal risks and industry warnings

Such infringements have triggered multiple legal consequences and industry reflections:

1. Severe crackdown trend in judicial practice: Referring to the recent centralized rejection of the "DeepSeek" trademark preemptive registration by the State Intellectual Property Office, the legal tolerance for " free-rider " infringement is continuously decreasing. Similarly, copyright infringement cases involving open source code may also face penalties such as high fines and market bans.

2. Trust crisis in the open source community: Developers publicly call for respect for open source agreements, but the rampant infringement has led to a decline in developers’ willingness to contribute. In the long run, the collaborative innovation mechanism of the open source ecosystem may be destroyed, forming a vicious cycle of “ bad money driving out good money ” .

4. Solution: Path to rebuilding a healthy ecology

1. Strengthen compliance awareness: Companies need to clarify the legal binding force of open source agreements, such as ensuring that derivative works comply with the agreement requirements through code audits, retaining original logos and making modified source code open.

2. Upgrading technical capabilities: Manufacturers should abandon the " skin-changing " mentality and truly invest resources in functional optimization. For example, you can refer to the PTX underlying optimization strategy used by DeepSeek in model training and build differentiated competitiveness through technological innovation.

3. Industry collaborative governance: Establish an open source project rights protection alliance and jointly initiate class action lawsuits against infringements with DeepSeek and other manufacturers. At the same time, promote the formulation of standardized usage specifications for AI open source codes and clarify the boundaries of commercialization.

Dify 's experience reflects the deep contradiction of the AI open source ecosystem: the game between the original intention of technology sharing and commercial interests. Only by achieving innovative breakthroughs on the basis of respecting intellectual property rights can we avoid short-sighted behavior of " pseudo-all-in-one machines " and promote the industry towards a sustainable future. As DeepSeek emphasized in its technical report , " real progress comes from awe for every line of code . "