The United States is diving deep into an investigation to determine if DeepSeek managed to acquire NVIDIA’s AI chips through intermediaries in Asia, potentially exploiting trade loopholes.
In the wake of DeepSeek’s impressive strides in AI, the US is reevaluating its export policies, taking a hard look at certain trade channels. Despite strict export controls aimed at safeguarding homegrown technology from reaching adversarial countries like China, reports from Bloomberg suggest Chinese firms might still be accessing NVIDIA’s top-tier AI chips, such as the H100s. The focus of the investigation is Singapore, suspected of being a transit point for these chips, which, if substantiated, could lead to significant repercussions.
Why is Singapore under scrutiny? According to insights from @KobeissiLetter, NVIDIA’s sales to Singapore have skyrocketed by an eye-popping 740% since DeepSeek’s inception. This is intriguing, given that Singapore doesn’t exactly have a booming AI industry, raising flags about potential trade loopholes. NVIDIA has acknowledged the possibility that the billing address might not match where the chips end up, hinting at a known workaround to bypass US restrictions.
To add more layers to this complex narrative, China is reportedly importing far more chips from Singapore than the US itself. Considering Singapore’s modest count of 99 data centers, this disparity fuels suspicion. Those familiar with DeepSeek know it commands computational resources worth over $1.6 billion, including an arsenal of 10,000 NVIDIA H800 GPUs tailored for China and another 10,000 of the superior H100 AI chips. Clearly, China isn’t short on cutting-edge AI capabilities, which questions the effectiveness of current US export limitations.
There’s more to the story. Singapore isn’t the sole focus; other nations like the Philippines are also in the mix, suspected of funneling chips to China. As the US gears up for a formal investigation, the implications are broad. NVIDIA’s 20% revenue slice from AI stands on shaky ground. Should the US clamp down on these trade routes, the fallout could ripple across not just Team Green but the broader AI landscape.
