AI Race Intensifies as DeepSeek Funding Paused and Experts Warn of Superintelligence Threat

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has temporarily halted a second fundraising round after founder Liang Wenfeng’s comments about sourcing “non‑compliant” GPUs were leaked online. The remarks, made at a closed‑door investor meeting on May 20, suggested the company was receiving fewer Huawei‑compatible processors than other major Chinese internet firms and was willing to spend up to 20 billion yuan on GPUs. The leak prompted DeepSeek to tell prospective investors that no new agreements would be signed in the coming days, pausing the round that aimed for a valuation of about 500 billion yuan ($74 billion).

Separately, ControlAI director Connor Leahy warned that multiple governments and companies are racing to build artificial superintelligence, describing it as a national and international security problem. Leahy urged a ban on superintelligence and supported new legislation such as the AI Kill Switch Act introduced by U.S. lawmakers Ted Lieu and Nathaniel Moran, which would allow the government to intervene if an AI model caused catastrophic harm. The commentary comes amid tightening AI regulations in the EU and ongoing scrutiny of how firms like DeepSeek obtain restricted hardware.