Export controls need to be tightened after revelations the Chinese company used Nvidia technology, the leaders of a congressional committee said.

DeepSeek stunned the tech world with the release of its R1 "reasoning" model, matching or exceeding OpenAI's reasoning model for a fraction of the cost.

In a letter addressed to Waltz, the lawmakers highlighted DeepSeek’s use of Nvidia’s H800 chip, which was designed specifically to circumvent existing U.S. export controls. The letter emphasized the necessity of updating export controls to prevent China from exploiting regulatory gaps to further its AI capabilities.