US likely to block DeepSeek from buying American technology

Given its quick jump to gaining skyrocketing popularity, the United States is reportedly considering making a significant move to maintain its technological edge over China.

According to a report by The New York Times, the Trump administration is mulling over penalties to block Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek from purchasing American technology.

To further compel the Chinese AI giant to back down from expanding its operations and services, the US is also deliberating on enforcing a nationwide ban on Americans accessing DeepSeek’s services.

Went live in January this year, DeepSeek wreaked historical havoc in both the AI space and the global stock markets, sending shares of prominent US-based tech firms tumbling within a few days of its debut.

Amid all this frenzy, the centre of attraction was a trivial $6 million investment behind a substantially capable AI model, which stood tall against ChatGPT in various benchmarks.

Tightening the noose around chipmaker Nvidia, the key supplier of AI chips around the world, the US administration has barred it from selling its H20 AI chips to China, following which Nvidia projected a huge $5.5 billion loss.

The US House Select Committee on China has sought clarification from Nvidia on how its chips might have backed up DeepSeek’s AI models, despite ongoing export controls.