DeepSeek is an AI company from China that recently announced big breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. They claimed their models perform as well as, or better than, top U.S. systems and are much cheaper. But now, a senior U.S. official has raised concerns that DeepSeek is secretly supporting China’s military and intelligence agencies.

Instead of using public and open materials, DeepSeek is said to have directly given data to the Chinese government. This means the company is doing more than just sharing tools; it is helping China’s military and spy agencies. The U.S. official, who spoke anonymously to Reuters, explained that DeepSeek has gone beyond what an open company would do.

Under U.S. rules, advanced chips are not allowed to be sent to China. These chips are crucial for AI work. But DeepSeek found a way around these rules. They created shell companies in Southeast Asia to import the chips and then send them to China. This trick let the company get “large volumes” of powerful chips they should not have access to, according to the official.

America’s government believes DeepSeek heavily depends on U.S. technology. They say part of the company’s rise may be because it used imported advanced computer chips. Having those chips made a big difference in how fast and powerful DeepSeek’s AI systems could be.

DeepSeek is based in Hangzhou, a tech hub in China. In January, the company surprised the world by saying their AI reasoning tools matched or beat U.S. models. They also said their models were much cheaper. DeepSeek’s announcement caused strong reactions from tech experts and investors, who were impressed and curious to test the tools. But now, some doubt whether DeepSeek’s success is truly from original work or from sneaky ways of getting restricted technology.

According to the U.S. official, DeepSeek “has willingly provided and will likely continue to provide support to China’s military and intelligence operations.” Importantly, this claim is based on government intelligence. The company isn't just sharing open information; it is directly enabling actions that support the Chinese state.

DeepSeek’s methods to access U.S. chips appear sophisticated. After U.S. export controls were put in place to stop chipmakers from sending advanced chips to China, DeepSeek went around these rules. They set up companies in other countries in Southeast Asia. These companies bought the chips legally and then shipped them to China. This is the kind of setup that U.S. officials warn about. They say it undermines export rules and could fuel military AI capabilities.

Such tactics have raised alarms in Washington. Laws exist to prevent foreign firms from accessing top-tier U.S. AI chips, especially those that can be used for military applications like autonomous drones or advanced analysis tools. DeepSeek seems to have found a way to slide past these protections. The official made clear that DeepSeek’s access to these chips is extensive. They used the phrase “large volumes of advanced chips” to show this is not a small mistake.

The consequences of this are serious. China’s military and spy branches rely on high-performance computing to advance their capabilities. If companies like DeepSeek can supply these tools, they may accelerate development of intelligent weapons, surveillance systems, and other sensitive technologies. That worries U.S. officials who believe these developments could threaten international security.

This news comes at a time when both countries are in a tense rivalry in AI. China has been pushing to match or exceed the U.S. in this field. But the U.S. has used export controls to slow China’s access to the fastest chips. These controls are meant to keep strategic tools from aiding China’s defense capabilities. DeepSeek’s behavior suggests these rules can be evaded using global networks.

The U.S. government’s statements represent a turning point. Earlier, White House officials and Congress had already expressed concerns about AI companies in China and investment in them. Now, this specific accusation is deeper. The official told Reuters that DeepSeek’s support goes beyond “open-source access to DeepSeek’s AI models.” In other words, DeepSeek is not simply giving everyone access to its tools—they are giving specific help to the Chinese military and intelligence.

DeepSeek has not made a public response to these accusations. It is unclear exactly how they got the chips or how they dealt with the transfers. Details about financial arrangements or the exact destinations of the chips are not known. However, the U.S. official’s tone is serious: they believe DeepSeek and perhaps other AI firms are actively helping the Chinese state gain technological advantages.

This story sheds light on wider issues in technology competition and national security. Export controls are only as strong as the companies that follow them. If firms like DeepSeek break the rules, this could undermine U.S. policy. It could also signal to other Chinese firms that there are ways to get around the limits. That would make it harder for the U.S. to contain military uses of AI.

To sum up, U.S. officials say DeepSeek is helping China’s military and spy agencies by giving them data and, most importantly, supplying advanced U.S. chips. The company allegedly used front companies in Southeast Asia to dodge export controls and import chips meant for AI research. The U.S. government characterizes this as a serious threat. It raises questions about how effective export rules can be if companies build secretive systems to bypass them. DeepSeek still claims its models are groundbreaking and low-cost, but U.S. officials argue the company’s rise may owe more to misused technology than to original innovation.