ExclusiveTrump: China’s DeepSeek AI a Wakeup Call for US Industry

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story, shocking claims from Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek saying it used a mere fraction of the data and money expected to train its model compared to American rivals. A closer look at the AI race between Washington and Beijing and what President Trump envisions for the future. The release of DeepSeek AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser focused on competing to win. A major bust in Los Angeles. Authorities arresting eight people for allegedly smuggling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of counterfeit goods from China into the U.S. President Trump ordering the Pentagon to immediately start building a missile defense system to fend off threats from nations like China and Russia. Before we dive into today's top story, we'd like to share an important update. You can now catch China In Focus on Genjing World every Tuesday instead of YouTube. To watch, simply click the link in the description box down below or search China In Focus at genjingworld.com. Chinese AI model DeepSeek's emergence has wiped off over a trillion dollars off the U.S. stock market. That's after its developer claims it uses much less data and much less money to train its AI model than its American rivals. DeepSeek even claims to use far lower-end AI chips. The idea sounds like a fictional one for U.S. competitors, and it's adding fuel to the fire of the AI race between the U.S. and China. DeepSeek is yet another controversial Chinese app that quickly gained vast popularity in the U.S. in the wake of social media platforms TikTok and RedNote. DeepSeek launched just three weeks ago and was made by a one-year-old Chinese startup. A Chinese business database shows the startup only employs 50 staff members. Compare that to OpenAI, which employs over 5,000. A hundred times larger than DeepSeek's team, according to data prospect company LeadIQ. As for the microchips the company uses, one of DeepSeek's research papers showed that it had used about 2,000 of NVIDIA's H800 chips. These chips are a type of lower-end, less powerful semiconductor and are designed to comply with U.S. expert controls against China. The regulation is to prevent Beijing from using advanced American know-how to make nuclear weapons and exchange enhance its military. Alexander Wong, founder of American tech company Scale.ai, told CNBC last week that he doesn't believe DeepSeek's claims. Instead, he suspects the company is running on about 50,000 NVIDIA H100 chips, a higher-end chip that's banned from being sold to China. Elon Musk commented on the interview saying, quote, obviously. But that's not the end of DeepSeek's claims. The company also says it only spent $6 million to develop the chatbot, a shocking number given OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said his company spent more than $100 million to train its flagship product, GPT-4. No matter if what the Chinese company claims is true, it does spark concerns in the U.S. Many are questioning whether communist China is still years behind the U.S. in the AI field. At the same time, President Trump shared another take on Monday. Here's the president speaking in Doral, Florida. Take a listen. I view that as a positive, as an asset. So I really think if it's fact and if it's true, and nobody really knows if it is, but I view that as a positive because you'll be doing that too. The release of DeepSeek AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win because we have the greatest scientists in the DeepSeek offers similar features compared to other AI chatbots like ChatGPT. When it comes to criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, DeepSeek's thought process appears to echo talking points approved by the Chinese regime. When asked about an iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, when unarmed student protesters were gunned down, the app first provided a standard answer, but soon swapped with a sentence that reads, sorry, that's beyond my current scope. Let's talk about something else. NTD tested the app's response to other topics that the CCP considers sensitive, such as Falun Gong, the Uyghur ethnic group, and Taiwan. The chatbot declined to answer the questions. The chairman of the Haosila Committee on China, Congressman John Lennar, argued on Monday that the app is controlled by the CCP. He condemned it for erasing content negative to the CCP's authoritarian ruling, and called for stronger expert controls on AI technology. It's worth noting U.S. tech giants like Microsoft and NVIDIA all house AI training programs in China, which could unintentionally give Beijing the elite tech it needs to further the country's AI development. Google closed its AI center in Beijing in 2019. Controversy surrounding DeepSea comes just days after President Trump announced a $500 billion investment to boost America's AI sector. He also pledged to support AI centers by making sure they get access enough electricity. That's by signing an energy emergency declaration to build more power stations across the country. Australia's science minister is warning people not to download popular Chinese AI chatbot app DeepSeek. He cited the app's ability to collect personal information. Details the app may collect include email addresses, date of birth, IP addresses, phone numbers, and any data entered into the chatbot. It may also collect text or audio provided to the app. While U.S.-based ChatGPD collects similar user data, DeepSeek routes this information back to China. DeepSeek's privacy policy states, quote, we collect in secure service located in the People's Republic of China. When asked why it answers in behalf of China, the chatbot responded, quote, my programming and knowledge base are designed to follow China's laws and regulations, as well as socialist core values. On the economic front, how might DeepSeek impact the stock market long term? After it sent other tech stocks plunging, we spoke to Vance Gin for insight. He's the economic consulting and former chief economist at the Office of Management and Budget. Vance, thank you so much for joining us. Good to see you again. Now to begin, Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek took over the top spot in Apple's App Store over the weekend. Number one in the U.S., UK, and Canada. The stock market responding with tech shares falling. NVIDIA 11%, SML 7%, and Oracle 8%. What do you see as the long-term impact of DeepSeek on the market? Is this just a short-term response, or could we see these tech shares suffering a long-term blow? Well, Tiffany, it's a pleasure to be with you. I think, first of all, we lost $600 billion when you look at just NVIDIA's market cap. It's a massive amount of money, the largest that we've seen of any company to this point. But it also shows you the influence that NVIDIA has had over the last couple of years. They've had a historic increase in their stock market capitalization. And so now there's more competition with DeepSeek entering the marketplace. And that's what we want, is more competition, allowing for there to be better quality products that are out there. Some people are going to want to use DeepSeek. Some people are going to want to use NVIDIA and OpenAI and other things that are out there. This is what we should want in the marketplace. And so I do think that this was probably a short-term sort of blip in the marketplace as they start to correct in the next few days. But it could be a longer-term thing to look at if we can start to see more competition within AI. Zooming in on export control, some are suggesting that the more export controls, the more creative the workarounds now at the same time. DeepSeek's CEO told Axios last year that, quote, money has never been the problem for us. Bans on shipments of advanced chips are the problem. How do you view the impact, either negative or positive, that these export controls have on innovation, especially those of an adversarial country? Well, it should be something that's looked at and something that's looked at by tariffs or other sort of import bans. But ultimately, how can we allow for consumers to be better off? That's one reason why I think it's so important to look at the consumer welfare standard to determine how consumers are doing versus the prices and the benefits of the products that they're getting. And if you're limiting the supply through import bans or tariffs, tax on Americans, that's all going to influence the consumer at the end of the day and more profitability by firms. And so this could have repercussions across the globe to think about where we should be in the future. How do we have more competition in this marketplace for AI? Because I really do believe that it's part of the next economic revolution and we should not try to stifle it, but therefore allow for it to flourish. And if we do that, I think more people will thrive in the process. Ranskin, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Have a great day. A major bust in Los Angeles. Federal law enforcement officials said Monday eight people were arrested on suspicion of operating a California smuggling network, illegally sneaking goods from China through Los Angeles and Long Beach. These seizures include everything from controlled substances, chemical precursors, weapons parts, fake postage stamps, counterfeit U.S. coins and consumer products, drug paraphernalia, and over 220 tons of prohibited plant and animal products. These shipments also contained a number of capsule filling machines which can be used in the production of illicit chemicals, including fentanyl. Acting U.S. attorney Joe McNally told reporters members of the scheme recruited truck drivers to take sealed containers and fill them with contraband items. The containers would later be reapplied with counterfeit seals and sent to customs for inspection. McNally clarified no fentanyl was seized. He said he believes the mastermind of the alleged smuggling network has fled to China. President Trump announcing new executive orders Monday to reshape the U.S. military and create a U.S. version of Israel's Iron Dome. The next generation missile defense shield would reportedly be designed to counter threats from nations like China and Russia. NTD's White House correspondent Iris Tao has more. The goal is to defend the U.S. against missile attacks. To immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defense shield which will be able to protect Americans and everything will be made right here in the USA, 100 percent. According to a fact sheet we got from the White House, the new missile system shield will protect the U.S. against ballistic, hypersonic, and advanced cruise missiles. The fact sheet also calls such potential attacks catastrophic threats. The order will also speed up the development of systems like sensors and interceptors to detect and shoot down launches against the U.S. This is another promise made by President Trump on the campaign trail when he vowed to create an impenetrable dome to protect our people in the model of Israel's. One question though is we don't know exactly yet how much it will cost. Meanwhile, on the military, Trump is also expected to sign an order to ban thousands of transgender service members from serving in the military. Specifically, back in 2017, then-President Trump also stated such a ban. But then later in 2021, President Biden repealed it. And now Trump is going even a step further by also mandating that the military cannot use and vented pronouns. It's also prohibiting males from using female-designated facilities like for showering, sleeping, and changing. And also Trump is expected to sign another order banning DEI programs in the military, which has been a focus for President Trump since his day in office. And a third order that President Trump is expected to sign will reinstate any service members who was booted from the military for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Reporting by Iris Tao, NTD News. Coming up, Congress zeroing in on Chinese influence at the Panama Canal one day after President Trump reiterated his pledge to take the key waterway. We have the highlights from the hearing. And President Trump said he may consider rejoining the World Health Organization if they clean it up. His former top health advisor weighs in on what that would look like. First of all, you have to get the influence of the Chinese Communist Party out of the WHO. More on that after the break. Here on China In Focus. Welcome back to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. A Senate committee is looking into the Chinese Communist Party's influence at the Panama Canal and the security risks its presence could bring. That's on top of possible corruption and coercion tactics the Communist Party could be using on Panama. NTD's Jason Blair has more from Capitol Hill. A Senate committee looks at areas of concern involving the Panama Canal. Three main focuses are the national security threats of the Chinese Communist Party's influence at the canal, whether Panama has violated its treaty with the U.S., and the exorbitant cost for using the canal. Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz says that one key issue Trump has highlighted for concern is the danger of China exploiting or blocking passage through the canal. Cruz says that Chinese companies are building a bridge over the canal at a slow pace that will take them nearly a decade to finish. The partially completed bridge gives China the ability to block the canal without warning. Cruz says that Chinese companies also control container ports at each end of the canal. And the ports give China ready observation posts to take to time that action. This situation, I believe, poses acute risks to U.S. national security. Cruz also expressed concern that the Chinese Communist Party or CCP could be using coercion tactics against Panama. As the infamous Belt and Road Initiative has come to Panama, China often engages in debt trap diplomacy to enable economic and political coercion. As for whether Panama has violated any of its treaties with the U.S., Cruz says that Trump argues that both CCP control over canal infrastructure and exorbitant fees for traveling through the canal violate the neutrality treaty. I think we heard considerable evidence to that effect, and I think the United States should consider that evidence and take action. Reporting on Capitol Hill, Jason Blair, NTD News. U.S. public health officials will immediately stop working with the World Health Organization. That comes from a CDC order one day after President Trump said he may consider rejoining the World Health Organization if they, quote, clean it up a bit. NTD's Jack Bradley discussed the president's policy on the WHO with Katie Talento. She's the former top health advisor to Trump on the Domestic Policy Council. Let's dive in. Katie, welcome to the program. Thank you so much for joining us. Now, public health officials in America are no longer working with the WHO. How does this affect how they provide care and analyze scientific data? Yeah, so the United States government has never relied on the expertise or technical assessment and assistance from the WHO. We have the world's best and the premier research enterprise and the public health enterprise throughout the world so that, you know, the WHO comes to us. The WHO relies on us. Other countries come to us. We don't need the WHO. The WHO is there for smaller countries to get access to information we already have generally and for coordination purposes in developing best practices to impose on smaller countries. And the United States has always wanted to have a really important lead in that process and has participated in the WHO so that it could influence that process in a more credible way. But when the cost of doing so, both financial and in principle, in terms of the morality and the competence of the WHO, are so in question, then we don't really need them. And we can influence other countries through other ways, especially if we have a forceful executive, as we finally do. Now, Trump on Saturday said that he may consider rejoining the WHO if they clean it up a bit. What would cleaning it up entail? So I think, first of all, you have to get the influence of the Chinese Communist Party out of the WHO right now. They pay very little to the WHO, and yet their influence is outsized. You know, they manage to get whatever they want when it comes to international regulations. They have a bunch of plants in the scientific enterprise. And even the very head of WHO has long been sort of a Chinese CCP crony and sort of protege. And the United States government has no interest in being part of a Chinese Communist Party influence operation anymore. Now, among the reasons President Trump pulled out of the WHO was the mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new CIA director, John Ratcliffe, declassified a report on the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, concluding that it most likely came from a lab in Wuhan, China. Now, how much influence does the CCP have in the WHO? What is this telling? Yeah, I mean, they managed to quash and silence the WHO from telling the very obvious truth. As soon as the genome for the COVID virus was sequenced and that sequence was published, it was very clear and very obvious to everyone who worked in this space that these viruses were man-made and that there were sequences in there that were products of research projects funded by the United States in the Wuhan lab. And so, you know, the experts on this knew it. Fauci knew it. Collins knew it. And they were involved in trying to cover this up. And the WHO was pressured by the CCP to keep quiet about this, to not say anything about it and, you know, to the detriment of the entire world. Now, the CIA report says that it has low confidence in its conclusion. What do you think of the CIA's conclusion? How much do you think China's lack of cooperation affects the low confidence? Well, I don't think we need the Chinese cooperation right now. I mean, we know what happened. All the experts in this space have known what happened for years now. It's just a matter of finally the United States government, which has been complicit in the cover up, especially the CIA, has been complicit in the cover up for so long, finally comes out and admits the truth once they have, you know, an honest man running the operation. But I'm not worried at all about, you know, the Chinese Communist Party and WHO at this point. We don't need the WHO and the world doesn't need the WHO. They've been nothing but incompetent on so many fronts and really also committed to taking away the freedoms of free people around the world and committed to lockdown measures and vaccine requirements and trying to turn the climate crisis into the next public health emergency that they can impose, you know, tyrannical quarantine regimes and other mandates on countries that are members of the World Health Assembly, which is the governing body for the WHO. Now, China's spinning this report as political, saying it's intended to stigmatize the CCP as the source of the virus. I want to play a clip of Ratcliffe's comments on Fox's Sunday morning Futures. I had the opportunity on my first day to make public an assessment that actually took place in the Biden administration. So it can't be accused of being political and it and it and it does assess the CIA has assessed that the most likely cause of this pandemic that has wrought so much devastation around the world was because of a lab related incident in Wuhan. And so we'll continue to investigate that moving forward. But I think it was important for the American people to see an institution like the CIA get off the sidelines and and be truthful about what our intelligence shows at the same time of protecting us from adversaries like China if they caused or contributed to this. Katie, how much does this report restore confidence in America's institutions? And how might the U.S. handle China differently now when it comes to health? Well, I think it's going to take a very long time to restore trust in America's institutions, especially the CIA and certainly the public health enterprise of the United States government and the ways that they work together. I think that, you know, this is a good first step. It's a very important first step. It's actually a lagging indicator. The scientific community has known for years and it's just useful to have the federal government catch up. It's almost it's just it's hard to say that it restores trust when they're sort of being forced to come forward and they didn't have the guts to come forward during the Biden administration with with what they knew because it would make their sacred cows like Anthony Fauci look bad for having funded all this and for the DOD for having funded all this. I think we need to see more out of in the way of apology and in reforms to make sure this could never happen again before anyone should put any trust in institutions like the CIA or the CDC or the NIH. Katie Tolento, thank you very much for joining us and with your insights today. Thank you for having me. That's all for today's China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. If you have any feedback on the show or have something you'd like to see us cover, send us an email at ChinaInFocusNTD.com. We'd love to hear from you. For around the clock original news coverage, visit us at NTD.com or download our NTD app. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow.