A senior U.S. official has accused the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek of providing artificial intelligence support to China's military and intelligence operations. The official stated that DeepSeek has willingly shared user information with the Chinese government and has sought to evade U.S. export controls by using shell companies in Southeast Asia. These efforts were reportedly aimed at gaining access to high-end semiconductors, including Nvidia H100 chips, which are restricted from shipment to China under current U.S. regulations. The official indicated that DeepSeek holds large volumes of these chips and continues to support Beijing's military and surveillance activities. These allegations were detailed in an interview with Reuters and have been reported by multiple news outlets, highlighting concerns over technology transfer and export control circumvention by the Chinese tech firm.