What Happened?
The United States Congressional China Communist Party Special Committee has pointed out that Chinese AI company DeepSeek is suspected of illegal activities, including secretly transmitting US user data to . The US government is considering imposing sanctions on DeepSeek to restrict its procurement of American technology.
The committee simultaneously noted that DeepSeek may be utilizing NVIDIA chips, which are subject to US export restrictions, for model training. NVIDIA’s sales in Asia are also under investigation, particularly to examine whether the company has violated regulations by supplying critical hardware to DeepSeek.
In addition to the United States, DeepSeek is also facing strict regulations globally, with countries such as France, South Korea, and Ireland beginning investigations into DeepSeek’s data collection practices.
US Government Considers Sanctions on DeepSeek
According to a report by The New York Times, the Trump administration is considering a series of sanctions against the Chinese AI company DeepSeek, aimed at blocking its procurement of American technology. The DeepSeek-V3 chatbot, launched by DeepSeek earlier this year, has caused a stir in the industry as the model was trained for only $6 million, significantly lower than the “hundreds of millions” spent by OpenAI. This has raised concerns within the US government regarding the pace of China’s development in the field of AI.
Foreign media pointed out that a report released by the US Congressional China Communist Party Special Committee on April 16, 2023, accused DeepSeek of illegal activities. For example, DeepSeek allegedly transmitted US user data secretly to the Chinese Communist Party without disclosure. Furthermore, during the training of its AI model, DeepSeek may have utilized data illegally obtained from US AI models.
Is NVIDIA Under Investigation?
The report also indicated that DeepSeek may be using approximately 60,000 NVIDIA chips to train its AI model, of which 20,000 chips fall under US government export controls. This implies that advanced US technology may have entered the hands of Chinese developers through unauthorized channels.
Consequently, the committee is investigating NVIDIA’s sales in Asia, particularly examining whether the company provided critical hardware to DeepSeek, thus violating US export regulations. Foreign media reported that in February of this year, Singaporean authorities arrested three suspects involved in the illegal export of NVIDIA chips, with local media claiming their export activities were intended for DeepSeek.
Committee member ### John Moolenaar stated in a press release that American innovative technology should not be used to empower hostile forces (referring to ).
A spokesperson for NVIDIA stated that the company strictly adheres to US government directives and operates in full compliance with government regulations regarding which products can be bought and sold.
In fact, not only in the United States, DeepSeek is also facing strict regulatory scrutiny in other countries. For instance, in January of this year, Italy’s data protection authority required DeepSeek to cease providing chatbot services locally, as the company failed to comply with European data protection standards. Additionally, France, South Korea, and Ireland have also indicated they will investigate the company’s data collection practices.
Sources: Decrypt, Reuters