Given the fate of TikTok in the US and the recent blacklisting of Tencent Holdings, I suspect it is only a matter of time before Hangzhou-based DeepSeek will face a sweeping US crackdown. It does not help that it stores data on Chinese servers. Or that animosity between Beijing and Washington runs high as President Donald Trump has unleashed fresh tariffs as part of the opening salvo of his anticipated trade war.
DeepSeek’s moment of global glory is a double-edged sword and it could not have come at a more geopolitically fraught time.
The upstart garnered international attention with its latest models, shocking Silicon Valley and investors with their capabilities and efficiency. But for a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company with overseas ambitions, doing the technically impossible will amount to the easy part. If it wants to remain in the lucrative US market, the real challenges start now.
