U.S. Accuses Chinese AI Firm DeepSeek of Supporting Beijing’s Military
The U.S. has accused Chinese AI firm DeepSeek of aiding Beijing’s military and bypassing export restrictions for advanced semiconductor technology. A State Department official claims the firm collaborates with military and intelligence services, raising concerns about data privacy and export compliance. Despite these allegations, DeepSeek has not been blacklisted in the U.S., suggesting further investigations may follow.
The U.S. government is leveling serious accusations against the Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek. A senior official claims the company has direct ties to Beijing’s military and even attempted to sidestep export rules to nab advanced American semiconductor technology. This allegation, revealed in a chat with Reuters, comes amid heightened tensions and rivalries in the tech realm between the U.S. and China, which, let’s be honest, have been brewing for a while now.
According to the anonymous State Department official, DeepSeek has not just collaborated with military outfits but has also allegedly tried to acquire Nvidia chips through Southeast Asian front companies. “DeepSeek has willingly provided and is likely to continue supporting China’s military and intelligence operations,” the official remarked, adding that this situation strays far beyond just accessing open-source AI models. It’s a concerning assertion if true.
Earlier in the year, DeepSeek stirred quite a bit of buzz in the tech industry claiming their AI reasoning models, DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1, matched or even surpassed offerings from titans like OpenAI and Meta – all for a considerably lower training cost of about $5.58 million. That number? It raised eyebrows among AI researchers, who suspect the real costs might be a lot higher than what the company claimed. So, there’s that.
More damning, the U.S. official suggested that DeepSeek shares user data and analytics with Chinese surveillance systems. Now, under Chinese law, companies must comply with governmental data requests, which complicates things. This claim could potentially alarm the tens of millions of global users about their privacy. U.S. lawmakers have previously flagged concerns regarding the company transmitting American user data via networks associated with China Mobile, which is state-owned. But so far, DeepSeek hasn’t said much about its privacy practices.
Adding to the worrying list, DeepSeek has allegedly made over 150 appearances in procurement records connected to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and its defense entities. According to the official, the company has been supplying tech to PLA research organizations, though independent verification remains elusive. On top of that, despite U.S. restrictions on high-end Nvidia chips since 2022, DeepSeek apparently got its hands on a solid amount of them by utilizing shell companies in Southeast Asia. The idea is that they might be using remote data centers to keep everything running smoothly.
The U.S. official wouldn’t confirm if DeepSeek had indeed skirted these controls, but the mere hint of a high-profile Chinese AI company possibly dodging U.S. restrictions could spark further investigations. Responding to inquiries, Nvidia asserted that it doesn’t endorse any company violating export controls. They highlighted their current exclusion from the China data center market, which is primarily catered to by companies like Huawei.
There might be some discrepancies concerning DeepSeek’s actual chip inventory, with Nvidia claiming that DeepSeek had indeed utilized H800 processors, a compliant alternative, instead of the prohibited H100s. In a related note, Singaporean officials recently charged three individuals over fraud linked to the illicit transfer of Nvidia chips to DeepSeek. Meanwhile, investigations in Malaysia hint at another Chinese company possibly leveraging Nvidia servers to develop large language models, raising questions about regulatory compliance.
Despite it all, DeepSeek hasn’t yet found its name on any U.S. trade blacklist, and there’s no public evidence tying Nvidia directly to any military initiatives by the firm. However, under current U.S. regulations, exporting high-tech chips to Chinese companies tied to military endeavors or blacklisted entities is strictly off the table. It’s safe to say this situation is likely to ramp up pressure on Washington to keep a closer eye on tech firms in China, especially those potentially flirting with military involvement.
The situation surrounding DeepSeek underscores increasing concerns about U.S.-China tech rivalry. With allegations of supporting military operations and attempts to bypass export controls, the scrutiny on Chinese AI firms is only expected to grow. Nvidia’s involvement and the broader implications for user data privacy also add to the urgency of the matter, suggesting that U.S. authorities might indeed tighten the screws in the near future.
Original Source: www.livemint.com
