The Trump administration is evaluating potential sanctions aimed at preventing Chinese company DeepSeek from obtaining U.S. technology. Officials are also discussing whether to restrict Americans from using DeepSeek’s services.
The emergence of DeepSeek’s affordable AI model has disrupted the AI industry, prompting U.S. authorities to increase scrutiny of the Chinese start-up and its connections with chip manufacturer Nvidia (NVDA.O).
Nvidia’s AI chips have been a central target of U.S. export controls, part of a broader effort to curb China’s access to cutting-edge semiconductors and maintain the U.S.’s competitive edge in AI development.
This week, the Trump administration took further action by imposing new limits on Nvidia’s ability to sell AI chips to China.
In a recent report, the U.S. House Select Committee on China stated that it had formally requested Nvidia provide information regarding chip sales to China and Southeast Asia. The inquiry seeks to understand how Nvidia’s hardware may have supported DeepSeek’s AI systems, despite existing export restrictions.
Nvidia announced on Tuesday that it faces a projected $5.5 billion revenue loss following the U.S. decision to block exports of its H20 AI chip to China. This restriction marks another step in the administration’s ongoing strategy to reduce China’s access to high-performance semiconductors.
Since 2022, the U.S. has prohibited the export of Nvidia’s most advanced chips to China, citing concerns that such technologies could contribute to the enhancement of China’s military capabilities.
