Key points
- DeepSeek siphons data back to the People’s Republic of China: Panel report
- Claims model appears to have been built using stolen US technology
- The report documents some of the risks DeepSeek poses
ISLAMABAD: Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek is a “profound threat” to US national security, a bipartisan House committee said, urging Nvidia Corp to hand over information on sales of chips that the startup may have used to develop its breakthrough chatbot model.
According to Bloomberg, the House Select Committee on China alleged in a report Wednesday that DeepSeek’s ties to Chinese government interests “are significant,” citing corporate filings obtained by the panel.
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Lawmakers claimed that DeepSeek’s founder, Liang Wenfeng, controls the firm alongside the High-Flyer Quant hedge fund in an “integrated ecosystem” linked to state-linked hardware distributors and Chinese research institute Zhejiang Lab.
“Profound threat”
The Executive Summary of the report uploaded on the Select Committee of the CCP’s website, states: DeepSeek represents a profound threat to our nation’s security. Although it presents itself as just another AI chatbot, offering users a way to generate text and answer questions, closer inspection reveals that the app siphons data back to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), creates security vulnerabilities for its users, and relies on a model that covertly censors and manipulates information pursuant to Chinese law. Equally troubling, the model appears to have been built using stolen US technology on the back of US semiconductor chips that are prohibited from sale to China without an export license and when it was released, PRC-affiliated social media accounts amplified and celebrated the model, according to Graphika research.
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This report documents some of the risks DeepSeek poses and explains how its development is based on common Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tactics designed to unlawfully undermine US technological leadership and critical American policies to protect national security.
The findings
The Committee’s investigation found:
- DeepSeek funnels Americans’ data to the PRC through backend infrastructure connected to a US government-designated Chinese military company.
- DeepSeek covertly manipulates the results it presents to align with CCP propaganda, as required by Chinese law.
- It is highly likely that DeepSeek used unlawful model distillation techniques to create its model, stealing from leading US AI models.
- DeepSeek’s AI model appears to be powered by advanced chips provided by American semiconductor giant Nvidia and reportedly utilises tens of thousands of chips that are currently restricted from export to the PRC.
Committee recommendations
The Committee made the following recommendations:
- Take swift action to expand export controls, improve export control enforcement, and address risks from PRC AI models.
- Prevent and prepare for strategic surprise related to advanced AI.
The complete report can be accessed here.
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