U.S. officials allege that AI firm DeepSeek aids China's military operations and uses Southeast Asian shell companies to access restricted Nvidia H100 chips. A senior State Department official stated, “DeepSeek has willingly provided and will likely continue to provide support” to Beijing’s intelligence efforts. Despite claims that it spent just $5.58 million on AI model training, skepticism remains about the startup's actual costs, raising concerns over privacy and compliance with U.S. export controls.
U.S. officials allege that AI firm DeepSeek aids China's military operations and uses Southeast Asian shell companies to access restricted Nvidia H100 chips. A senior State Department official stated, “DeepSeek has willingly provided and will likely continue to provide support” to Beijing’s intelligence efforts. Despite claims that it spent just $5.58 million on AI model training, skepticism remains about the startup's actual costs, raising concerns over privacy and compliance with U.S. export controls.