US holds off blacklisting DeepSeek despite military ties as trade tensions with China simmer

DeepSeek was set to be added to US Entity List for supporting China's military and intelligence operations, report claims -- White House holds off to avoid escalating tensions with China

The U.S. is apparently avoiding an escalation and prioritizing stability by keeping DeepSeek, CXMT, and other Chinese companies from the Entity List, at least for now. AI outfit DeepSeek, along with over a hundred other Chinese companies, was slated for addition to the Department of Commerce's Entity List last year, according to a new report. An interagency committee purportedly recommended the addition of the Chinese AI startup after a senior U.S. State Department official said that the firm supported Chinese military and intelligence operations. Alongside DeepSeek, Chinese memory maker CXMT was also slated for the blacklist that prevents American institutions from doing business with them. However, Reuters reports that the White House has held off updating its blacklist to avoid escalating trade tensions with Beijing, especially in the lead-up to President Donald Trump's three-day state visit to China. Aside from being accused of helping the Chinese military, Anthropic also claims that DeepSeek and two other frontier Chinese models distilled Claude to improve the capabilities of its models, making 16 million exchanges with 24,000 fraudulent accounts. The American AI company said in its statement on X, "Distillation can be legitimate: AI labs use it to create smaller, cheaper models for their customers. But foreign labs that illicitly distill American models can remove safeguards, feeding model capabilities into their own military, intelligence, and surveillance systems." There have also been reports that the AI firm has been using shell companies to acquire banned Nvidia chips. Despite all those concerns, DeepSeek is gaining popularity among American users, especially as many are using it as an alternative to more expensive frontier models from OpenAI and Anthropic. CXMT is also starting to gain traction among mainstream brands, with Corsair getting DRAM chips from the Chinese memory firm to deal with the crushing shortages from Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix, at least for the Chinese market. So, if the U.S. pushes through with its threat of including these two Chinese firms in its Entity List, American companies and users would also be affected by these bans. The United States has been using bans and export controls to help keep China in check and make it more difficult for Beijing to use the latest American tech for its own goals. However, the Chinese government has a couple of aces up its own sleeve, too. The biggest of these is its control of rare-earth materials, which are crucial for semiconductor manufacturing and are causing a shortage for chipmakers. If the White House updates the Entity List and adds the hundreds of firms that are lined up to be included, then Beijing might just retaliate and cause further instability between the two global rivals. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

U.S. holds off blacklisting China's DeepSeek, more than 100 firms deemed security risks

The U.S. has held off adding China's AI startup DeepSeek, memory chipmaker CXMT and more than 100 other companies flagged as national security risks to a trade blacklist, according to two people familiar with the matter, as the Trump administration tries to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing. DeepSeek, CXMT and other companies were approved by an interagency committee last year for addition to the Commerce Department's Entity List, which is being reported for the first time. Reuters is also exclusively reporting the large number of companies awaiting publication on the list. DeepSeek, whose low-cost AI model sent shockwaves through the technology world in January 2025, has supported China's military and intelligence operations, a senior U.S. State Department official told Reuters last year, adding that the startup tried to use Southeast Asian shell companies to illegally access advanced U.S. chips. This year, Anthropic said it identified a campaign by DeepSeek and two other Chinese AI labs to illicitly extract capabilities from its Claude AI platform to improve their own models, and OpenAI warned lawmakers that DeepSeek also was targeting its models. ChangXin Memory Technologies, China's top memory chipmaker, was designated as a Chinese military company by the Defense Department under the Biden administration. The Commerce Department considered placing it on its Entity List more than a year ago, Reuters and others reported. U.S. companies cannot ship goods, software and technology to companies on the list without a license, which is likely to be denied. DeepSeek and CXMT could not be reached for comment outside normal business hours. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees the list, did not directly respond to questions about why updates to the Entity List had not been published since last year, or comment on DeepSeek and CXMT. The bureau uses "many policy and enforcement tools, including the Entity List ... on a daily basis to ensure we are combating bad actors," BIS said in a statement.

DeepSeek reportedly won't be banned in U.S. (for now)

Credit: Algi Febri Sugita / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images DeepSeek isn't being banned in the U.S. -- at least, for now. Reuters reports that the Trump administration is holding off on adding the Chinese AI company to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Entity List, allowing it to continue doing business in the country for the time being. The Entity List is a list of foreign entities upon which the U.S. government has imposed trade restrictions, citing national security concerns. Being added to this list essentially means the end of your ability to do business in the country. The Trump administration previously added Chinese tech giant Huawei to the Entity List in 2019, blocking the company's U.S. operations. That list was poised to get much longer, with DeepSeek reportedly just one of over 100 companies approved for addition to the Entity List last year. However, sources told Reuters that the U.S. government is postponing this to avoid further aggravating its increasingly tense relationship with China. As such, it isn't clear if or when DeepSeek will be added to the Entity List. DeepSeek reportedly raised over 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) in its first funding round earlier this week, and is now valued at over $50 billion. In comparison, U.S. rivals such as Anthropic and OpenAI have been valued at $965 billion and $852 billion respectively. Unlike them, DeepSeek makes its frontier AI model available as open-source, allowing anyone to download, use, and modify it for free under an MIT license. New York previously banned DeepSeek from government devices last February, also citing national security concerns, while Texas did the same the month prior. The U.S. government has expressed increasing concern about foreign technology in recent years, accusing private companies such as TikTok and DJI of being controlled by the Chinese government. In March, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned all new foreign-made routers from entering the country -- impacting essentially all all routers. In addition to outright bans, the U.S. government has also imposed high tariffs on Chinese goods such as electric cars, keeping them out of the country. In a similar vein, the U.S. government has also imposed restrictions on exporting American technology to China, with NVIDIA going from dominating 95 percent of China's advanced chip market to having zero market share. Though NVIDIA has been approved to sell throttled chips made exclusively for China, the Chinese government has reportedly placed its own restrictions on their import.

U.S. held back blacklisting DeepSeek, over 100 Chinese firms despite security concerns, sources say

America has delayed adding over 100 Chinese firms, including AI startup DeepSeek and chipmaker CXMT, to a trade blacklist. These companies were flagged for national security risks. The US aims to prevent further escalation of tensions with Beijing. The U.S. has held off adding China's AI startup DeepSeek, memory chipmaker CXMT and more than 100 other companies flagged as national security risks to a trade blacklist, according to two people familiar with the matter, as the Trump administration tries to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing. DeepSeek, CXMT and other companies were approved by an interagency committee last year for addition to the Commerce Department's Entity List, which is being reported for the first time. Reuters is also exclusively reporting the large number of companies awaiting publication on ⁠the list. DeepSeek, ⁠whose low-cost AI model sent shockwaves through the technology world in January 2025, has supported China's military and intelligence operations, a senior U.S. State Department official told Reuters last year, adding that the startup tried to use Southeast Asian shell companies to illegally access advanced U.S. chips. This year, Anthropic said it identified a campaign by DeepSeek and two other Chinese AI labs to illicitly extract capabilities from its Claude AI platform to improve their own models, and OpenAI warned lawmakers that DeepSeek also was targeting its models. ChangXin Memory Technologies, China's top memory chipmaker, was designated as a Chinese military company by the Defense Department under the Biden administration. The Commerce Department considered placing it on its Entity List more than a year ago, Reuters and others reported. U.S. companies cannot ship goods, software and technology to companies on the list without a license, which is likely to be denied. DeepSeek and CXMT could not be reached for comment outside normal business hours. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees the list, did not directly respond to questions about why updates to the Entity List had not been published since last ⁠year, or comment on DeepSeek and CXMT. The bureau uses "many policy and enforcement tools, including the Entity List ... on a daily basis to ensure we are combating bad actors," BIS said in a statement. When asked for comment, China's foreign ministry said the U.S. should cease "politicizing, instrumentalizing, and weaponizing" economic, trade and technological issues. "China has consistently opposed the U.S.'s broad interpretation of the concept of national security and its ⁠abuse of export control measures, such as the Entity List, to contain and suppress Chinese enterprises," spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular news briefing on Wednesday. TENSE RIVALRYThe United States and China are locked in a tense rivalry over technology, trade and national security, with Washington using tariffs and export controls to keep Beijing at bay while China maintains a stranglehold on rare earth minerals that defense, auto and chipmaking firms need. The U.S. has not posted any additions to its Entity List since October, the longest stretch between new postings in more than a decade, said Philip Luck, who studies global supply chains at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The Entity List is like whack-a-mole and you've got to keep whacking the moles," Luck said, referring to an arcade game. The lack of new listings is likely allowing American technology to reach adversaries who could use it against the U.S., he added. "The fact the U.S. hasn't put any companies on the Entity List since October demonstrates that trade policy is overshadowing the use of a critical national security tool," said Kevin Kurland, a former Commerce Department official. Multiple Chinese companies were slated for the list for supplying Russian drones that were recovered in Poland last September, one of the people said. Listing those lesser-known companies is even more important to U.S. suppliers who may not know the nature of their business, the person said. Dozens of other Chinese companies were identified last year as national security risks for selling restricted Nvidia chips to Chinese universities, but were not added to the list, a third source said. Chinese companies that make and sell drones and robot dogs for the country's ⁠military were also selected as potential targets, according to the third person. Since late 2025, Jeffrey Kessler, under secretary of commerce for industry and security, has sought to avoid listing Chinese parties for fear of escalating tensions between the U.S. and China, according to the first source and other people familiar with the matter. The dearth of listings offers a window into what many see as a larger problem at the Bureau of Industry and Security under the second Trump administration - an inability to act or issue new rules to combat threats that can be reduced by restricting exports. Early last year, for instance, the bureau said it would replace a regulation created under former President Joe Biden to govern global access to U.S.-origin AI chips. But it has still not published a replacement, and is not enforcing the earlier rule, opening a potential loophole that may have allowed the chips to be exported to Chinese companies outside China. Decisions regarding whether to add an entity to the list are made by an interagency committee, which includes officials from the departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, State and sometimes Treasury. But the first two sources said the committee has approved companies for the list and Commerce has not published them. At least 75 Chinese entities in advanced semiconductor production, semiconductor manufacturing equipment production and AI modeling have gone through the committee and were slated for blacklisting, one of the sources said.

Trump Administration Holds Off Blacklisting DeepSeek And More Than 100 Chinese Companies Flagged As Secur

The Donald Trump administration has reportedly delayed adding Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, memory chipmaker CXMT and more than 100 other Chinese companies identified as national security risks to a U.S. trade blacklist. DeepSeek, CXMT Among Firms Approved For US Blacklist DeepSeek, ChangXin Memory Technologies or CXMT and dozens of other Chinese entities were approved last year by an interagency committee for inclusion on the Commerce Department's Entity List, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Companies placed on the Entity List face significant restrictions, as U.S. firms generally cannot export goods, software or technology to them without obtaining government licenses that are often denied. The report said DeepSeek drew scrutiny over allegations that it supported Chinese military and intelligence activities and attempted to access advanced U.S. chips through shell companies in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, CXMT, China's leading memory chipmaker, was previously designated by the Pentagon as a Chinese military company. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments. US-China Tensions Shape Export Control Decisions The reported delay comes as Washington and Beijing remain locked in a broader rivalry over artificial intelligence, semiconductors, trade and national security. The U.S. officials have reportedly held off publishing new Entity List additions since October, marking the longest gap between updates in more than a decade. Experts cited by the publication argued that slowing the pace of new listings could allow sensitive American technology to continue reaching companies viewed as strategic competitors. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo Courtesy: Kaspars Grinvalds on Shutterstock.com Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

US holds off on adding DeepSeek, CXMT to trade blacklist, Reuters reports By Investing.com

Investing.com-- The Trump administration has delayed adding Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek and memory chipmaker CXMT to a U.S. trade blacklist, despite both companies having been approved for inclusion by an interagency committee last year, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The move comes as Washington seeks to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing amid ongoing disputes over trade, technology and national security. Get real-time updates on market-moving news with InvestingPro Reuters reported that more than 100 companies identified as national security risks, including at least 75 Chinese entities involved in advanced semiconductors, chipmaking equipment and AI development, are awaiting publication on the U.S. Commerce Department's Entity List. DeepSeek, whose low-cost AI models gained global attention last year, has been accused by U.S. officials of supporting China's military and intelligence operations. Meanwhile, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), China's leading memory chipmaker, was previously designated by the Pentagon as a Chinese military company. The Entity List restricts U.S. exports of goods, software and technology to listed firms without special licenses. The U.S. has not announced any new additions to the list since October 2025, marking the longest gap in updates in more than a decade, according to experts cited by Reuters.

DeepSeek dodges addition to US trade blacklist

STORY: DeepSeek has avoided being added to a U.S. trade blacklist. Sources have told Reuters that Washington has held off updating the so-called Entity List. DeepSeek, and more than 100 other Chinese companies including chipmaker CXMT, had been approved for addition to the list last year by an interagency committee. That's according to exclusive new reporting by Reuters. The Chinese AI startup has been in Washington's crosshairs for some time. Last year, the U.S. State Department said the firm was aiding Beijing's military and intelligence operations. It also accused DeepSeek of trying to use shell companies to illegally acquire advanced U.S. chips. This year, Anthropic accused its Chinese rival of illicit efforts to extract capabilities from its Claude AI model. OpenAI also told lawmakers that DeepSeek was targeting its models. The latest news means Washington hasn't added any names to the Entity List since October - what one expert says is the longest stretch without additions in over a decade. That comes as the Trump administration tries to ease tensions with China. U.S. firms cannot ship goods, software or tech to firms on the list without a license, which is likely to be denied. There was no immediate comment on the Reuters report from U.S. officials or any of the companies involved.