DeepSeek accused of 'dodging' sanctions to buy NVIDIA chips

Chinese AI company DeepSeek is making a big splash in the US and globally with its DeepSeek-R1 model, which is said to be able to compete with open-source large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT-4. DeepSeek-R1 can respond at a low cost and requires less computing power - advantages that have helped the chatbot quickly rise to the top of the popular free mobile app rankings, replacing ChatGPT.

However, DeepSeek's rapid growth and "extraordinary" capabilities are raising questions about the development process and the actual construction of this model. According to a recently published report, the Chinese company is suspected of taking measures to circumvent the US trade ban imposed on Beijing in order to purchase NVIDIA's advanced AI processors and bring them into the country.

Deepseek suspected of buying NVIDIA chips from intermediary company in Singapore

Suspicion that DeepSeek used a middleman

PhoneArena , citing sources familiar with the matter, said that DeepSeek purchased NVIDIA chips through an intermediary partner based in Singapore. Along with the question of how the Chinese company was able to purchase NVIDIA chips, analysts also expressed concern that China may be ahead of the US in the field of AI, as the company behind DeepSeek can operate a smart artificial intelligence model at a much lower cost than what OpenAI and Google spent on ChatGPT, Gemini.

The White House and the FBI are currently investigating the possibility that the Chinese company used an intermediary in Southeast Asia to evade the ban on exporting NVIDIA's high-end AI chips to the Chinese market. Billionaire Jensen Huang's company also affirmed that its partners must comply with current laws. "We always require our partners to comply with all legal regulations. If there is information about illegal behavior, the company will take appropriate action," the company representative emphasized. Previously, NVIDIA said it did not believe DeepSeek violated the sanctions.

Mr. Howard Lutnick, the candidate chosen by President Donald Trump for the position of US Secretary of Commerce, said that there is nothing wrong with DeepSeek competing with American AI companies, but it is necessary to stop using "American tools", for example NVIDIA chips, to compete with the United States.

Some trade data suggests that Singapore may be involved in DeepSeek’s dealings with NVIDIA chips. Specifically, the US company’s revenue in the Singapore market has increased from 9% to 22% in the past 2 years. DeepSeek has confirmed that it uses 2,048 NVIDIA H800 GPUs to train its V3 model, so it is likely that R1 – the more powerful version – requires a server using high-end NVIDIA GPUs to run, while this product is banned from being exported to China.

Cheaper and smarter, DeepSeek also has its fair share of reliability issues. In an independent test of 11 AI platforms, DeepSeek ranked 10th in accuracy, with a correct answer rate of around 17%. More than 30% of the answers were misleading, and 53% of the answers were vague or unhelpful when it came to current affairs.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/deepseek-bi-to-ne-lenh-trung-phat-de-mua-chip-nvidia-185250201093826011.htm