Deepseek app. Photo | courtesy.
The United States government has launched an investigation into the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek over allegations that it may have used advanced U.S. chips that are banned for export to China. The probe comes after DeepSeek’s AI chatbot demonstrated poor accuracy in delivering reliable information, raising concerns about both its technology and potential violations of U.S. export restrictions.
Investigation Over Banned Chips
The U.S. Commerce Department is currently scrutinizing DeepSeek’s potential access to high-performance semiconductor chips, which are restricted under U.S. export control regulations. These chips, particularly those developed by leading American firms such as NVIDIA, are crucial for training and running advanced AI models. Since the U.S. imposed strict bans on chip exports to China, investigators are trying to determine how DeepSeek managed to develop its AI technology despite these restrictions.
The case is part of a broader effort by the U.S. government to curb China’s advancements in AI and semiconductor technology, which are viewed as critical for national security. The U.S. has been enforcing tighter controls to limit China’s access to cutting-edge technology that could be used for military and surveillance purposes.
Deepseek Accuracy
DeepSeek’s AI chatbot recently came under scrutiny after an independent evaluation by NewsGuard, a service that rates the credibility of online news sources. The study found that DeepSeek delivered accurate information only 17 per cent of the time. NewGuard called the Chinese Chatbot a “disinformation machine“.
The chatbot’s performance was ranked tenth out of eleven AI models tested, including those developed by U.S. companies such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. The study further revealed that DeepSeek’s chatbot repeated false claims 30 per cent of the time, while 53 per cent of its responses were either vague or unhelpful, resulting in an overall fail rate of 83 per cent.
In contrast, Western AI models had an average of 62 per cent fail rate.
Plummeting US Tech Stocks
Despite its poor performance, DeepSeek’s AI chatbot quickly became the most downloaded app on Apple’s App Store in China. The rapid rise of the chatbot raised alarms in the U.S. over the potential growth of China’s AI industry, which is increasingly seen as a competitor to American firms.
The controversy surrounding DeepSeek has deeply affected tech stocks. Following concerns about China’s AI capabilities, U.S. tech stocks suffered a significant decline, with an estimated market loss of around Sh129.2 trillion ($1 trillion).
