The Chinese AI behemoth DeepSeek is reportedly actively trying to get around U.S. export restrictions in order to obtain cutting-edge Nvidia chips, according to a recent Reuters report. According to the report, the company, which is thought to assist China’s military and intelligence activities, has obtained restricted Nvidia hardware—specifically, the H100 chip—through the use of shell corporations. Due to national security concerns, these chips—which are vital for the development of artificial intelligence—have been prohibited from exporting since 2022. This is because they are thought to be necessary for high-performance computing, including military applications.
DeepSeek has “willingly provided” support to China’s military and intelligence sectors, and it is anticipated to continue doing so, according to a senior U.S. State Department official. The official underlined that DeepSeek does more than just offer open-source AI models. The company’s use of workarounds to obtain Nvidia’s H100 chips in spite of the limitations is especially concerning.
Although it’s unclear if these attempts were ultimately successful, DeepSeek is accused of using Southeast Asian shell companies to enable these acquisitions. Additionally, the official hinted that DeepSeek might have attempted to gain access to local data centres in order to remotely use American chips. This disclosure adds to an increasing amount of evidence showing that Chinese businesses are looking into ways to circumvent U.S. regulations. For example, there have been reports of Chinese companies physically shipping hard drives to Malaysia in order to rent servers with Nvidia hardware for AI training.
Although people with knowledge of the situation have stated that DeepSeek did purchase several H100 chips, it is still unclear how many were purchased. According to reports, the company’s efforts are not as extensive as some previous assertions, such as those made by Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI, who in January implied that DeepSeek might have purchased up to 50,000 units. Nvidia, however, has refuted the allegations, claiming that any chips DeepSeek purchased were legitimately acquired H800 models rather than H100s.
The circumstance highlights the escalating geopolitical tensions surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) technology and its strategic military implications.
