In a brand new coverage proposal, OpenAI describes Chinese AI lab DeepSeek as “state-subsidized” and “state-controlled,” and recommends that the U.S. authorities contemplate banning fashions from the outfit and related People’s Republic of China (PRC)-supported operations.
The proposal, a submission for the Trump Administration’s “AI Action Plan” initiative, claims that DeepSeek’s fashions, together with its R1 “reasoning” mannequin, are insecure as a result of DeepSeek faces necessities beneath Chinese regulation to adjust to calls for for consumer information. Banning using “PRC-produced” fashions in all international locations thought-about “Tier 1” beneath the Biden Administration’s export guidelines would forestall privateness and “safety dangers,” OpenAI says, together with the “danger of IP theft.”
It’s unclear whether or not OpenAI’s references to “fashions” are supposed to confer with DeepSeek’s API, the lab’s open fashions, or each. DeepSeek’s open fashions don’t include mechanisms that will permit the Chinese authorities to siphon consumer information; firms together with Microsoft, Perplexity, and Amazon host them on their infrastructure.
OpenAI has beforehand accused DeepSeek, which rose to prominence earlier this yr, of “distilling” data from OpenAI’s fashions in opposition to its phrases of service. But OpenAI’s new allegations — that DeepSeek is supported by the PRC and beneath its command — are an escalation of the corporate’s marketing campaign in opposition to the Chinese lab.
There isn’t a transparent hyperlink between the Chinese authorities and DeepSeek, a spin-off from a quantitative hedge fund known as High-Flyer. However, the PRC has taken an elevated curiosity in DeepSeek in current months. Several weeks in the past, DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng met with Chinese chief Xi Jinping.
