Washington DC [US], February 2 : Howard Lutnick, the nominee for US Commerce Secretary, has accused DeepSeek, a newly launched artificial intelligence model from China, of stealing US technology and getting around US export controls to obtain Nvidia chips, the Asia Times reported.
During his nomination hearing before the US Senate on January 29, Lutnick alleged that DeepSeek was able to develop its AI models at a significantly lower cost by purchasing large quantities of Nvidia chips and exploiting data from Meta's open platform.
He said, "I take a very jaundiced view of China. They only think about themselves and seek to harm us, and so we need to protect ourselves. We need to drive our innovation, and we need to stop helping them. Meta's open platform let DeepSeek rely on it. Nvidia's chips - which they bought tons of, and they found their ways around [export controls] - drive their DeepSeek model. It's got to end."
Lutnick had also pledged to strengthen and enforce the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)'s export controls and tariffs to prevent China from leveraging American technology to compete with the United States.
The Asia Times further reported that Beijing has so far not responded to Lutnick's comments as it is celebrating the Chinese New Year from January 28 to February 4.
Earlier on Friday, Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) announced that government employees will be prohibited from using DeepSeek due to concerns that it could expose sensitive data to Beijing, according to a report by Focus Taiwan.
In an official statement, MODA classified DeepSeek AI as a Chinese information and communications technology (ICT) product and cautioned that any data leaks could threaten national security.
The restriction applies to personnel across central and local government agencies, public schools, state-owned businesses, and other affiliated institutions. However, MODA did not provide further details on how the policy would be enforced. The ban also extends to individuals involved in critical infrastructure projects and those employed by government-funded foundations.
MODA cited the 2019 Executive Yuan regulation, "Principles on Restricting the Use of Products That Endanger National Cyber Security," which prohibits government agencies from using ICT products and services that may pose a national security risk, Focus Taiwan reported.
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