US wary of DeepSeek threat: Chinese AI firm linked to military and intelligence operations

AI firm DeepSeek is aiding China’s military and intelligence operations, a senior US official told Reuters, adding that the Chinese tech start-up sought to use Southeast Asian shell companies to access high-end semiconductors that cannot be shipped to China under US rules.

Hangzhou-based DeepSeek sent shockwaves through the technology world in January, claiming its AI reasoning models were on a par with or better than US industry-leading models at a fraction of the cost.