Trump Calls China’s DeepSeek a ‘Wake-Up Call’ for U.S. Tech Companies

President Donald Trump addressed concerns about China’s artificial intelligence advancements during the Republican lawmakers’ gathering at the Trump Doral National Resort in Miami on January 27. Trump highlighted the impact of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company, urging American industries to take its progress as a challenge.

“Hopefully, the release of [DeepSeek] AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industries. They need to be laser-focused on competing,” Trump said. “Because we have the greatest scientists in the world, even Chinese leadership told me that.”

Trump noted the unexpected nature of an AI company outside the U.S. developing a significant technological edge.
“This is very unusual when you hear a DeepSeek, when you hear somebody come up with something,” he said. “We always have the ideas, we’re always first.”

Founded in 2023 by Liang Wengfeng, co-founder of the Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer, DeepSeek has created a free, open-source language learning model comparable to some of the best-known closed-source models globally.

Trump also pointed to DeepSeek’s claim of achieving its breakthrough for just $6 million—a stark contrast to the $100 million-plus spent on similar U.S. projects—as a point of potential opportunity for American companies.
“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, and you won’t be spending as much, and you’ll get the same result, hopefully,” Trump said. “We’re going to unleash our tech companies, and we’re going to dominate the future like never before.”

Financial Markets React to DeepSeek’s Progress

DeepSeek’s announcement led to turmoil in the financial markets, particularly in the tech sector. Nvidia, considered a global leader in AI, experienced a nearly 17% drop in stock value on January 27, amounting to $589 billion in market capitalization losses—the largest single-day loss for any company in history. Broadcom and Vertiv also faced significant declines of over 17% and 29%, respectively.

Amid this disruption, DeepSeek faced overwhelming levels of registrations and cyberattacks, forcing the company to restrict user activity temporarily.

Political and Economic Responses

The DeepSeek development has raised concerns about trade and national security. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called for stronger trade standards with China and other nations.
“China is a terrible trading partner,” Johnson said. “They abuse the system. They steal our intellectual property. They’re now trying to get a leg up on us on AI, as you’ve seen in the last day or so. It’s a serious threat to us, and to our economy, and to our security in every way, so the president takes that seriously, and I think he will deal with that in an appropriate manner.”

Censorship Concerns and U.S. Dominance in AI

Concerns about censorship and political bias in DeepSeek’s AI have also surfaced. An analysis by The Epoch Times noted that DeepSeek heavily skews toward narratives aligned with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). For example, where ChatGPT offered comprehensive, balanced answers on controversial topics, DeepSeek often provided brief, state-controlled responses or refused to engage on topics like human rights.

Despite DeepSeek’s advances, experts emphasized that since the AI field originated in the U.S. in 1959, American technology has historically led global innovation. Trump reiterated his commitment to maintaining this dominance, citing $500 billion in private industry investment for AI infrastructure, announced on January 21.

Experts warn that the rise of DeepSeek marks a pivotal moment for global AI competition. Billionaire software engineer Marc Andreesen called it “AI’s Sputnik moment,” underscoring the strategic implications of foreign breakthroughs in AI development.