Singapore says U.S. firms should comply with export controls following DeepSeek chip questions

Singapore’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MTI) stated in a observation Saturday that it expects U.S. corporations to conform to U.S. export controls and native regulations, following questions over the chips impaired by means of China’s DeepSeek to manufacture its AI type.

Markets have been rocked this past nearest DeepSeek claimed its immense language type outperforms OpenAI’s however value a fragment of the associated fee to coach. On the other hand, questions have been quickly raised over the provenance of the semiconductors impaired to develop DeepSeek’s R1 reasoning type given U.S. restrictions on exporting complex AI chips in China. 

Bloomberg on Friday reported that U.S. officers have been investigating whether or not DeepSeek had purchased complex semiconductors from chipmaker Nvidia by way of 1/3 events in Singapore.

A Nvidia spokesperson informed GWN Monday that the chips impaired by means of DeepSeek have been absolutely export-compliant. DeepSeek used to be now not in an instant to be had for remark when contacted by means of GWN.

“We expect US companies, like Nvidia, to comply with US export controls and our domestic legislation. Our customs and law enforcement agencies will continue to work closely with their US counterparts,” MTI stated in its observation.

“We have always upheld the rule of law, and acted decisively and firmly against individuals and companies that flout the rules.”

In its third-quarter effects printed in November, Nvidia stated that Singapore accounts for just about 22% of its earnings however added that: “most shipments associated with Singapore revenue were to locations other than Singapore and shipments to Singapore were insignificant.”

MTI cited Nvidia’s feedback in its Saturday observation and stated the chipmaker stated there used to be disagree reason why to consider that DeepSeek had received any export-controlled merchandise by way of Singapore.

“Singapore is an international business hub. Major US and European companies have significant operations here. Nvidia has explained that many of these customers use their business entities in Singapore to purchase chips for products destined for the US and other Western countries,” MTI added.

— GWN’s Ryan Browne contributed to this record.