Reports suggest US President Donald Trump is considering banning DeepSeek amid an investigation into the AI developer.
The administration is considering banning US citizens from using DeepSeek, according to three sources familiar with the matter, the New York Times reported.
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, sparking concerns that US companies could be overtaken in AI by Chinese efforts.
The New York Times also said that it may outright ban DeepSeek from buying US technology to power its systems, in particular Nvidia chips.
Nvidia chip bans
The rumors 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 told the publication that the company followed government rules on exports "to the letter."
That came alongside another hurdle for Nvidia. The chipmaker said in a filing on Tuesday night that it would now need a special license to sell to China its lower-powered H20 AI processors, which were specifically designed to sell in that country to meet Biden-era rules.
Nvidia said the tighter restrictions will cost it $5.5 billion in earnings.
Huang in China
Yesterday (17th April), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang responded to the further tightening of export restrictions and the pressure on DeepSeek by visiting the AI developer in Beijing.
According to a report in the Financial Times, Huang and DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng discussed new chip designs to dodge the latest restrictions.
The trip plans were reportedly finalized after the H20 ban was revealed, with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV saying Huang called China a "very important market for Nvidia."
Indeed, it made $17 billion in sales there last year, the report added.
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