Nvidia’s ongoing challenges in China show no signs of easing, as fresh political pressure mounts in Washington. Just days after reports suggested that Chinese authorities had granted limited approval for the sale of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips, a new controversy has emerged that could further complicate the company’s position in the region.
US Representative John Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan and chairman of the House Select Committee on China, has sent a letter to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick calling for stricter action against Nvidia. In the letter, Moolenaar alleges that the world’s most valuable semiconductor company provided significant technical assistance to Chinese AI startup DeepSeek—support that may have ultimately benefited China’s military capabilities.
DeepSeek is the same Chinese AI firm that rattled US financial markets in January 2025, erasing billions of dollars from the market capitalization of major American technology companies. The startup drew attention after claiming its AI models could compete with top-tier offerings from US leaders such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, despite being trained using far less computing power. These claims triggered alarm in Washington, fueling concerns that China could narrow the AI gap with the United States even under strict US export controls on advanced chips.
According to Moolenaar, documents obtained by his committee indicate that DeepSeek’s rapid progress was not achieved independently. The records allegedly show that Nvidia engineers provided extensive guidance, helping DeepSeek dramatically improve training efficiency through a close integration of algorithms, software frameworks, and hardware optimization.
In his letter, Moolenaar cited internal Nvidia reports claiming that DeepSeek’s flagship model, DeepSeek-V3, required only 2.788 million H800 GPU hours to complete training—a significantly lower figure than what US developers typically need for frontier-scale AI models. GPU hours refer to the total amount of time AI processors must operate to train a model, while frontier-scale models represent the most advanced systems developed by leading US companies.
Moolenaar argued that Nvidia’s support effectively allowed DeepSeek to achieve near-frontier AI performance using H800 chips, which are considered downgraded versions of Nvidia’s more powerful processors. He warned that this undermined the intent of US export controls designed to limit China’s access to cutting-edge AI capabilities.
“Nvidia treated DeepSeek as a legitimate commercial partner and provided standard technical support,” Moolenaar wrote, adding that if even the most valuable company in the world cannot ensure its products are not used for military purposes in China, then existing licensing and enforcement mechanisms are insufficient.
The lawmaker has reportedly asked Commerce Secretary Lutnick to provide a briefing by February 13 on enforcement of rules surrounding Nvidia’s H200 chips. He also urged the Commerce Department to consider using its authority to restrict the use of Chinese-developed AI models within the United States.
In response, Nvidia strongly rejected the allegations. A company spokesperson said critics of the current policy risk unintentionally strengthening foreign competitors. According to Nvidia, allowing American companies to compete in approved commercial markets helps safeguard national security, supports US jobs, and preserves America’s leadership in artificial intelligence.
Nvidia further argued that China already possesses ample domestic chip manufacturing capacity to meet its military needs. “Just as it would make no sense for the US military to rely on Chinese technology, it is unrealistic to believe that China’s military would depend on American chips,” the company said in its statement.
China also pushed back against the accusations. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, criticized what he described as an overextension of national security concerns and the politicization of trade and technology. He added that China hopes the United States will take steps to maintain stability in global industrial and supply chains.
Earlier this month, the administration of US President Donald Trump approved the sale of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China under specific conditions. These restrictions include prohibitions on selling the chips to entities linked to China’s military. The H200 processors are more advanced than the H800 chips that DeepSeek reportedly used during its AI development.
