DeepSeek, the Chinese developer of outstanding open-weights models, has withheld an upcoming update of its flagship model from U.S. chip makers, a move that intensifies the AI rivalry between the U.S. and China.
What’s new: DeepSeek has not yet given Nvidia or AMD an opportunity to make sure its upcoming DeepSeek-V4, which is in the final stages of development, will run smoothly on its chips — a departure from the typical practice prior to major model updates. However, it did share a prerelease version of the model with Huawei, giving the Chinese chip maker several weeks to optimize the software for its hardware, Reuters reported although it did not report DeepSeek’s reasoning for the decision.
How it works: According to Reuters, chip makers typically examine new models to make sure they run inference efficiently on their hardware. In the past, DeepSeek has worked closely with Nvidia to train its models.
- An unnamed senior Trump administration official said DeepSeek-V4 was trained in China using Nvidia’s most advanced chips despite U.S. export controls on such products, Reuters reported, although it was not able to learn how the official obtained this information.
- Nvidia supplied extensive technical assistance to DeepSeek when it trained DeepSeek-V3, achieving “major training efficiency gains,” the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on China said in January.
Behind the news: For years, the U.S. has tried to slow China’s AI effort by restricting exports of advanced chips and the equipment needed to produce them. But that effort has largely backfired by spurring China to build its domestic chip industry, and China’s government has taken steps to encourage or require companies in that country to use domestic chips.
- Although chips produced in China do not yet rival those designed by Nvidia and manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, Chinese companies, notably Huawei, have made strides in recent years.
- After tightening restrictions progressively since 2022, in January, the U.S. government began permitting exports of top-of-the-line AI chips on a case-by-case basis, subject to a 25 percent charge on such sales. However, officials are considering new export limits.
- Last year, China’s government mandated a security review of Nvidia’s H20 chip, which was designed for the China market. Meanwhile, it asked Chinese AI companies to buy foreign chips only when necessary.
Why it matters: While DeepSeek’s decision to withhold prerelease access to DeepSeek-V4 from U.S. chip makers may be more symbolic than significant, it deepens the divide between the portions of the AI community that are based in the U.S. and in China. The decision aligns with China’s long-standing goals of technological self-sufficiency, so critical AI capabilities remain available regardless of adversaries’ efforts to block them.
We’re thinking: The possibility that DeepSeek trained its latest model using Nvidia chips is one among several indicators that export restrictions alone are not stopping international rivals from gaining access to U.S. chips. The world would benefit more from negotiated limits, mutual cooperation, and free exchange of ideas, technology, and trade.