China’s DeepSeek Breakthrough – and What it Means for National Security

AI experts consider the implications of an AI ‘Sputnik moment’ for China

This photo illustration shows the DeepSeek app on mobile phones in Hong Kong on January 28, 2025. (Photo by Mladen ANTONOV / AFP) (Photo by MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP via Getty Images)

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT — When word first came last week that China’s AI startup DeepSeek had launched an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant that could compete with top-tier U.S.-made models – and that it had done so for a small fraction of the cost – the news sent shudders through the American tech sector and caused a selloff in the stocks of some of the biggest U.S. tech companies. How had China caught up so quickly, particularly given recent U.S. export controls aimed at slowing China’s progress in the AI space? 

For all the business and market interest, the national security implications of the DeepSeek story garnered less initial attention. Now those have crept to the fore, with comments from the White House, the U.S. military and experts outside of government questioning whether DeepSeek could pose risks to the U.S.  

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