A senior U.S. State Department official told Reuters in an exclusive interview that Chinese AI firm DeepSeek is supporting China’s military and intelligence operations. According to the official, the company has tried to circumvent U.S. export controls by using shell companies in Southeast Asia to obtain advanced American chips.
In January this year, DeepSeek caused a stir in the tech world by claiming that its AI models rival top U.S. models in performance.
The U.S. official emphasized that DeepSeek has direct ties with the Chinese government, stating: “DeepSeek has knowingly supported China’s military and intelligence services, and its actions go beyond open access to its AI models.”
Privacy and Security Concerns
U.S. lawmakers previously claimed that DeepSeek transmits user data to China through backend infrastructure tied to China Mobile, a state-owned telecom company. The company has not responded to these allegations.
DeepSeek has also reportedly provided technical services to research institutions affiliated with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), though this has not been independently verified.
Efforts to Evade Export Controls
According to U.S. sources, DeepSeek has gained access to Nvidia’s H100 chips, which have been subject to export restrictions since 2022 due to their military potential.
“DeepSeek attempted to use shell companies and data centers in Southeast Asia to remotely access restricted U.S. chips,” the official noted.
DeepSeek has not responded to these claims, and it is unclear how it acquired the chips or whether it used such firms.
Possible U.S. Actions
DeepSeek has not yet been placed on any U.S. trade blacklist. A spokesperson for Nvidia said: “We do not support entities that violate U.S. export regulations. With current restrictions, we are effectively out of China’s data center market, now dominated by competitors like Huawei.”
Doubts Over AI Claims
DeepSeek claims its DeepSeek-V3 and R1 models are on par with OpenAI and Meta. However, AI experts question this, saying the actual cost to train them likely exceeded the reported $5.58 million.
Reuters reported that DeepSeek obtained some H100 chips after the ban, but far fewer than the claimed 50,000. Nvidia stated DeepSeek legally acquired only the H800 version.
International Investigations
In February, Singapore arrested three men over suspected illegal chip transfers to DeepSeek. Malaysia is investigating a Chinese company possibly using Nvidia chips to train large language models. Read 'Zamin' on Telegram!
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