How Profit Beat Out Geopolitics in the AI Race |
The year’s best stories
The year began with a bang, as China’s DeepSeek R1 large language model sent shock waves through Washington. Though experts still debate the extent to which it actually constituted a dreaded “Sputnik moment” for U.S. artificial intelligence (AI), DeepSeek’s debut nonetheless showcased capabilities rivaling those of U.S. leader OpenAI at a fraction of the cost and computing power.
The release of the DeepSeek model also raised questions for U.S. policymakers about the effectiveness of Biden administration-era export controls on U.S. chips. Alarmed by the DeepSeek development, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration at first tightened control on sales of Nvidia chips to China. Building on this strategic pressure, White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks helped ink massive deals for the sale of advanced chips to the Middle East in May.
The year began with a bang, as China’s DeepSeek R1 large language model sent shock waves through Washington. Though experts still debate the extent to which it actually constituted a dreaded “Sputnik moment” for U.S. artificial intelligence (AI), DeepSeek’s debut nonetheless showcased capabilities rivaling those of U.S. leader OpenAI at a fraction of the cost and computing power.
The release of the DeepSeek model also raised questions for U.S. policymakers about the effectiveness of Biden administration-era export controls on U.S. chips. Alarmed by the DeepSeek development, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration at first tightened control on sales of Nvidia chips to China. Building on this strategic pressure, White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks helped ink massive deals for the sale of advanced chips to the........