US House Committee Flags DeepSeek, Probes Nvidia Chip Sales

A bipartisan House committee has labeled Chinese AI startup DeepSeek a serious threat to U.S. national security, alleging the company covertly transmits American user data to China and enforces censorship in line with Chinese Communist Party interests. Lawmakers claim DeepSeek operates within an ecosystem tied to Chinese state institutions and may have obtained tens of thousands of Nvidia chips—potentially circumventing U.S. export controls—to develop its advanced AI models. The committee also accuses DeepSeek of training its models using unlawfully obtained data from U.S. AI companies, such as OpenAI, by exploiting distillation techniques that accelerate development. In response, lawmakers have formally requested Nvidia disclose detailed sales data for its AI chips to clients in Asia, aiming to trace possible violations. Nvidia has stated it strictly follows U.S. export regulations and has not directly shipped restricted products to China in some instances. The committee recommends new restrictions on AI model exports to China to address these national security risks.