The US Commerce Department is reportedly looking into whether Chinese firm DeepSeek used restricted AI chips from Nvidia to develop its ground-breaking open-source AI model. Furthermore, the department suspects that DeepSeek may have used smuggled AI chips that are not allowed to be shipped to China.
According to Reuters which sourced a person familiar with the matter, organised AI chip smuggling to China has been tracked out of several countries. These include Malaysia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
DeepSeek pretty much turned the AI industry on its head with its free AI assistant last week, thanks to it being open-source, using less data, processing power, energy and at a fraction of the cost of US models. Within days, it became the most downloaded app in the Apple App Store and stirred concerns about the US’ lead in AI, sparking a rout that wiped around USD1 trillion off U.S. technology stocks.
However, a Nvidia spokesperson said many of its customers have business entities in Singapore and use those entities for products destined for the U.S. and the West. The company also insisted that its partners comply with all applicable laws, including not sending the AI chips to China.
Meanwhile, DeepSeek said it used Nvidia's H800 chips, which it could have legally purchased in 2023. DeepSeek also apparently has Nvidia's less powerful H20s, which can still lawfully be shipped to China.
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