The Donald Trump administration has launched full-scale sanctions against the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) corporation DeepSeek in conjunction with Congress.
On the 16th (local time), the U.S. House of Representatives Special Committee on U.S.-China Strategic Competition emphasized in a report that DeepSeek poses a "profound threat" to U.S. security.
The report noted, "The DeepSeek app may appear to be an ordinary AI chatbot, but in reality, it relies on a model that secretly censors and manipulates information according to Chinese law while leaking data to China and creating security vulnerabilities for users."
It further added, "The fact that this model appears to have been created by stealing U.S. technology based on U.S. semiconductor chips that are banned from being exported to China is also problematic."
The report considered the existence of a collusion relationship between DeepSeek and the Chinese government, stating that Liang Wenpeng, the founder of DeepSeek, is linked to hardware distribution companies and strategic research institutes connected to the Chinese government.
It also cited the findings of the cybersecurity firm Perute Security, saying that DeepSeek transmits user data through backend infrastructure linked to the telecommunications company "China Mobile," which is owned by the Chinese government.
In response, the report mentioned, "While the extent of the data transmission has not yet been confirmed, becoming entangled with DeepSeek will raise concerns over the Chinese government’s theft of personal information from Americans."
The report previously noted allegations raised by OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, suggesting that DeepSeek may have illegally appropriated OpenAI’s existing technology.
Meanwhile, The New York Times (NYT) reported that the Trump administration is considering punitive measures to block DeepSeek's acquisition of U.S. technology.
The House Special Committee on U.S.-China Strategic Competition also reported that it has initiated an investigation into NVIDIA's chip sales in Asia. The committee is currently determining whether NVIDIA deliberately provided AI technology to DeepSeek, which has violated regulations.