United States Vs. China: Is The Fear Of Competition Driving U.S. Actions Against Deepseek?
NorthAmerica
Technology
Deepseek is an AI model developed by a Chinese firm in Hangzhou, China. China has several AI models, including Baidu’s Ernie, Moonshot AI’s Kimi founded in 2019 and 2023, respectively, and others, while the US has ChatGPT (2022), Pi (2022), Claude (2021), Gemini (2023), and others. Deepseek is the most popular Chinese AI model, founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng. The development of this model aimed to redefine AI by optimization and address the underlying challenges in the already existing models. These existing challenges include inefficiencies and the high costs of AI development. However, just like any other system, gaps and challenges arise that need improvement, and so does Deepseek. The prompting issues on Deepseek are a matter of concern to every user, regardless of their location. However, there is another side of that which could magnify issues raised by the US about Deepseek. Therefore, we seek to understand whether fear of competition is a matter of concern in this issue. China and the US have had their long-term competition of who is the world superpower in all sectors, including tech and innovation. It is non-negotiable that anyone wants a secure system that they can trust and feel secure with their information. In the past year, there has been a striking conversation on security concerns when it comes to Deepseek. Several countries, including Australia and the United States, have raised the concern. Even with the concerns, Liang continues to assure that for China to lead in AI, it must gradually transit without following other countries like the US. According to the New York Times (2025), Deepseek's origin is traced to finance, not Tech. This is a good place to start the argument that Deepseek is still developing and does not deserve dismissal without giving it a chance for improvement. In a Senate meeting, Trump's nominee for secretary of commerce, Lutnick, said that Deepseek misappropriated United States AI technology and promised to impose restrictions. He also expressed his discontent about why Deepseek has gone above board, vowing to impose sanctions and restrictions to keep the US on top. Despite the lack of security and inability to protect consumers' data, this is an action that the developer can work on. While there are verified concerns about database leaks, there is a paradox of sanctions for Deepseek, which narrows down to its association with the location of origin. There have been conversations on whether Liang is qualified or has records of knowledge in AI or tech. In his speech after the release of Deepseek V2, Liang said that they are disruptors, but it happened by accident. The US has carried the title for its AI development, and this perception has swayed the development of Deepseek, which seems to shift the conversation of China's ability to its contribution in AI development and innovations. Deepseek is an advanced AI model that used a fraction of what the United States incurred, which struck a discussion on the cost of the American tech industry. Also, the US has raised issues of infringement of intellectual property rights by Deepseek. In their argument, the US claimed that Deepseek used US proprietary models to train its AI. These present competition as part of the discourse as to why the US proposes a ban and has already banned Deepseek in some sectors in the US but does not mention it as a factor and solely cites national security and privacy concerns. The US government has banned Deepseek in government devices, including the US navy and some areas of the federal and state government. The allegations laid against Deepseek about security and data leaks remain to be proven. However, following the US top leadership talks on the state of competition between the two countries, it is clear that there is more to Deepseek's performance. Failing to meet the expected standards is not a new thing in tech development. Considering that Deepseek is making further progress in its development, AI development does not end after its launch. Tech is about innovation and improvement. Therefore, as the US plans to sanction and restrict Deepseek, it should hide behind its failures and proclaim its fear of competition and being overtaken by China. However, actions to restrict Deepseek because of competition stand as a cowardly action. Instead, it should seek to strategize on improving and innovating competitive AI models to stand out rather than crushing on China to shine.
29 DAYS AGO