US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering banning DeepSeek amid an ongoing investigation into the AI developer. The administration is considering banning US citizens from using DeepSeek. The Chinese AI firm DeepSeek shocked the AI industry in January when it released a more efficient model that competed with more expensive, American-made options. This sparked concerns that US companies could be overtaken in AI by Chinese rivals.
The New York Times also said that it may outright ban DeepSeek from buying US technology to power its systems, in particular Nvidia chips.
The developments come as the US government investigates whether chipmaker Nvidia violated US rules established during the Biden administration that banned the sale of high-powered processors to China.
A congressional committee is investigating DeepSeek, accusing it of spying for China, stealing US designs, and subverting export controls. That committee is looking into allegations that Nvidia sold higher-powered chips to customers in Malaysia and Singapore, who then sold them on to China.
In February, Reuters reported that Singapore had arrested three people for selling Nvidia chips to DeepSeek in China.
The committee chairman, John Moolenaar, said in a statement yesterday, "We now know this tool exploited US AI models and reportedly used advanced Nvidia chips that should never have ended up in CCP hands.
“That’s why we’re sending a letter to Nvidia to demand answers. American innovation should never be the engine of our adversaries’ ambitions."
An Nvidia spokesperson, however, said that the company followed government rules on exports "to the letter."
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