US officials are probing whether Chinese AI startup DeepSeek bought advanced Nvidia Corp. semiconductors through third parties in Singapore, circumventing US restrictions on sales of chips used for artificial intelligence tasks,

Export controls need to be tightened after revelations the Chinese company used Nvidia technology, the leaders of a congressional committee said.

US officials are deep into an investigation to find out if Chinese AI startup DeepSeek found a backdoor route to Nvidia’s high-end chips through Singapore, evading American export bans.

Two members of U.S. Congress are calling on President Donald Trump's administration to consider restricting the export of artificial intelligence chips made by Nvidia , alleging Chinese AI firm DeepSeek has relied on them.

Several experts, including Elon Musk and Howard Lutnick, nominated to head the US Commerce Department, recently suggested that DeepSeek had found ways to avoid US sanctions. Analysts suspect that Deep

Organised AI chip smuggling to China has been tracked out of countries including Malaysia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, the source said. The Commerce Department and DeepSeek did not immediately return requests for comment.

Nvidia on Monday said Chinese AI firm DeepSeek's advances show the usefulness of its chips for the Chinese market and that more of its chips will be needed in the future to meet demand for DeepSeek's services.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is considering tightening restrictions on artificial intelligence leader Nvidia's sales of its H20 chips designed for the China market, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.