US officials are investigating whether China’s DeepSeek bought advanced Nvidia chips via third parties in Singapore, despite US export restrictions on the technology. Nvidia claims its chips used by DeepSeek were compliant with US laws, while Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry says it expects US companies to follow local regulations.
DeepSeek recently claimed its large language model outperforms OpenAI’s, but questions arose over the origin of its AI chips due to US restrictions on exporting advanced AI technology. Bloomberg reported that US officials are looking into whether DeepSeek acquired the chips from Nvidia via intermediaries in Singapore.
Nvidia denies any wrongdoing, stating that the majority of its shipments to Singapore were destined for locations outside the country. The company claims there’s no reason to believe DeepSeek obtained export-controlled products through Singapore. Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry cited Nvidia’s comments in a statement, highlighting the city-state’s status as an international business hub with significant operations from US and European companies.
The investigation raises concerns about the compliance of Chinese tech firms with US export regulations and potential implications for the global semiconductor market.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/01/deepseek-nvidia-chip-questions-singapore-responds.html