While the details on just how DeepSeek did it remain incomplete, and its success doesn't mean export controls don't have a place in markets and national security policy, it does show that a focus on stopping the competition can't keep pace with innovation. Now, the debate is underway over just how far the U.S. government should go in the future in blocking access to U.S. chip technology.
President Biden's Department of Commerce issued its rules to "regulate the global diffusion" of AI chips and models in the administration's waning days. The rules already have been heavily criticized by tech companies, including Nvidia, as well as policy experts. A Brookings analysis argues the the AI diffusion rules seek to create "a centrally planned global computing economy."