Is DeepSeek an avatar of revived innovation in China or a Beijing-coordinated deepfake? The surge on Chinese stock exchanges at the artificial-intelligence company’s market entry pushed the idea that China could pose a serious challenge to U.S. tech. But early evidence suggests that challenge has a shoddy foundation, which Washington could undermine with effective policy.
China’s AI advances rely heavily on American tech, data and expertise. Both DeepSeek and Ant Group, the other Chinese firm making a stir, present their new AI products as open-sourced, sophisticated competitors to U.S. models. But DeepSeek allegedly relied on illicitly acquired data along with technical expertise from Microsoft and other U.S. tech leaders.