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Five weeks after its launch, DeepSeek remains the AI model of the moment, and debate continues over the hardware the Chinese company uses to train it. The parent company, High-Flyer, is a quantitative hedge fund specializing in algorithmic trading. It employs advanced mathematical models and computer algorithms to maximize investment success.
DeepSeek started as a side project of High-Flyer to leverage its computing resources and establish a foothold in the AI industry. Its creators claim to have used only 2,048 Nvidia H800 chips to train the model. However, some analysts argue that its infrastructure includes 50,000 H100 GPUs acquired through intermediaries. That’s the issue. High-Flyer could legally buy H800 chips until U.S. sanctions took effect on Nov. 16, 2023, but it shouldn’t have access to H100 GPUs.
Singapore’s Role as a Gateway
For months, the U.S. government has suspected that Chinese companies and research centers involved in AI have acquired Nvidia’s most advanced GPUs through intermediaries in Singapore and Malaysia. That possibility is no longer theoretical. The Singapore government has confirmed it identified those responsible for diverting servers containing Nvidia’s high-performance GPUs to China, presumably to DeepSeek’s parent company.
The U.S. government could use the findings to tighten restrictions further.
Channel News Asia first reported the information last week, and Singapore’s Home Affairs and Law minister K. Shanmugam later confirmed it. He didn’t specify which GPUs were in these machines but revealed one critical detail: the names of the companies that manufactured the servers—two major U.S. Nvidia customers, Dell Technologies and Super Micro Computer.
If the U.S. government confirms that DeepSeek or any other Chinese AI company is obtaining advanced Nvidia GPUs by purchasing servers from these companies in Singapore or Malaysia, it could use the findings to tighten restrictions further. That wouldn’t prove Dell and Super Micro guilty of wrongdoing but would confirm their indirect involvement in the Nvidia chip trade.
As a result, they would need to monitor where their servers end up more closely, a challenging task. Meanwhile, the Singapore government has expressed willingness to cooperate with the U.S. to curb the illegal trade of advanced GPUs.
Image | Nvidia
Related | How to Use DeepSeek: 36 Features and Tricks to Get the Most Out of This AI Model
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