US lawmakers urge Trump to consider new curbs on Nvidia chips used by China's DeepSeek
The logo of DeepSeek is displayed alongside its AI assistant app on a mobile phone, in this photo taken on Jan 28, 2025. (File photo: Reuters/Florence Lo)
WASHINGTON: Two US Congress members are calling on President Donald Trump's administration to consider restricting the export of artificial intelligence chips made by Nvidia, alleging Chinese AI firm DeepSeek has relied on them.
Republican John Moolenaar and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, who lead the House Select Committee on China, asked for the move as part of a Commerce and State Department-led review ordered by Trump to scrutinise the US export control system in light of "developments involving strategic adversaries".
"We ask that as part of this review, you consider the potential national security benefits of placing an export control on Nvidia’s H20 and chips of similar sophistication," they wrote in a letter dated Wednesday (Jan 29) and addressed to National Security Advisor Michael Waltz.
In the letter, released on Thursday, they alleged that a sophisticated AI model recently released by DeepSeek made "extensive use" of Nvidia’s H20 chip, which is currently outside the scope of US export controls.
The letter is a sign of growing concern in Washington about China's rapid advances in AI after DeepSeek said its free AI assistant launched last week uses less data at a fraction of the cost of incumbent players' models, possibly marking a turning point in the level of investment needed for AI.
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The US fears China could harness AI to launch aggressive cyber attacks or even develop a bioweapon, prompting former president Joe Biden to spearhead a series of measures aimed at cracking down on China's access to AI chips and the tools that make them.
DeepSeek and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Nvidia said in a statement that its products "comply with all requirements set by the government" and that the company "is ready to work with the administration as it pursues its own approach to AI".
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the administration of Trump, who took office on Jan 20, is mulling new curbs on H20 chips, which can be used to run AI software and were designed to comply with existing US curbs on shipments to China.
