US Reportedly Investigating Use of Restricted AI Chips by China’s DeepSeek

DeepSeek made waves recently with the release of an AI model that rivals top AI firms like OpenAI. The company has positioned its AI app as a viable and compelling alternative to competitors, starting an AI race among tech firms to keep up.

However, DeepSeek’s rapid rise has caught the attention of big tech firms as well as the U.S. government. Federal officials are purportedly concerned the Chinese company used illegally obtained advanced Nvidia computer chips to create its AI model. In 2022, the U.S. banned exports of certain AI chips to China, but purportedly DeepSeek was somehow able to obtain them, nonetheless.

According to insiders, the U.S. Department of Commerce is looking into potential illegal chip exports through various countries. The agency reportedly tracked various shipments and allegedly found some that arrived in China after being moved from Malaysia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates. If DeepSeek did, in fact, receive these imported chips, it may explain how it developed cutting-edge AI in a short amount of time, which purportedly outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Meta’s Llama 3.1.

Despite this, the company claims it has been using H800 Nvidia chips, which were not restricted when purchased in 2023. In addition, H20 chips, which are less powerful, are still legally available to DeepSeek, at least for the time being.

DeepSeek AI’s Threat to Privacy

When DeepSeek’s AI app launched in the U.S., it became the most downloaded free app in the Apple Store, even surpassing ChatGPT. The overnight popularity has security experts raising red flags about the organization.

Under Chinese law, DeepSeek is likely sharing data with the ruling government — the Communist Party.  An increasing number of users means a massive amount of personal information will be given away to opaque third parties for potentially nefarious purposes.

“What they’ll use it for is behavior change campaigns, disinformation campaigns, for really targeted messaging as to what Western audiences like, what they do,” co-founder of the Centre for Information Resilience Ross Burley told CBS News.

Per DeepSeek’s published policy, the app collects information related to a user’s “device model, operating system, keystroke patterns or rhythms, IP address, and system language.” Other data tracked includes “service-related, diagnostic, and performance information.”

Just like another Chinese company, TikTok-owner ByteDance, DeepSeek may ultimately face a ban in the U.S. due to national security concerns. Some other governments aren’t taking any chances, as the AI app has already been restricted in Italy.