KATHMANDU: US lawmakers have claimed that American chipmaker Nvidia assisted Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek in refining its AI models, which were later used by the Chinese military.
According to a letter obtained by Reuters, the chair of a US House of Representatives committee stated on Wednesday that Nvidia’s support enabled DeepSeek to make its AI models more efficient, and that the technology was subsequently applied for military purposes in China.
DeepSeek’s AI models, unveiled early last year, sent shockwaves through the global technology market. The models were seen as competitive with cutting-edge AI systems developed by leading US companies. What drew particular attention was DeepSeek’s claim that the models were built using significantly lower computing power than comparable Western systems.
The allegations have heightened concerns in Washington at a time when the United States has imposed strict restrictions on the sale of high-performance computing chips to China. Lawmakers have raised serious questions about whether China could continue to narrow the AI technology gap—or even overtake the US—despite these controls.
US lawmakers have called for further investigation into Nvidia’s role in the matter. However, neither Nvidia nor DeepSeek has issued an official response to the allegations so far.
