United States imposes sanctions and bans on Chinese AI entities

The United States government has implemented new restrictions targeting Chinese artificial intelligence firms as part of an escalating technological competition. The administration has banned all federal civil agencies from using products or services from DeepSeek, a prominent Chinese AI company. Officials cited national security concerns, alleging that DeepSeek collects large volumes of sensitive data that could be transferred to the Chinese government under its domestic information security laws.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of State has sanctioned Shanghai Zhisuan Technology, a firm founded by Ding Linwei, a former Google engineer convicted of stealing trade secrets related to AI. The sanctions also extend to MiraclePlus, a venture capital firm founded by former Microsoft executive Lu Qi, and three of its subsidiaries, following allegations that they provided seed funding to the startup. MiraclePlus has denied investing in Zhisuan and stated that the measures were imposed without prior notice.