DORAL, Fla. — President Trump on Monday called the new Chinese AI platform DeepSeek a “wakeup call” for America — while also saying its debut could be a “positive” development if it actually works more cheaply than US competitors.
“I’ve been reading about China and some of the companies in China, one in particular, coming up with a faster method of AI and much less expensive method,” Trump, 78, said in an address to House Republicans.
“And that’s good because you don’t have to spend as much money. I view that as a positive, as an asset. So I really think — if it’s if it’s fact, and if it’s true, and nobody really knows what it is — but I view that as a positive, because you’ll be doing that too,” Trump said.
“So you won’t be spending as much, and you’ll get the same result hopefully. The release of DeepSeek, AI from a Chinese company, should be a wake up call for our industries that we need to be laser focused on competing to win.”
Trump addressed the development after DeepSeek’s claims of cheaper AI caused the Nasdaq Composite to slip more than 3% Monday — as AI chipmaker NVIDIA’s stock tanked almost 17%.
“I would say that’s a positive that could be very much a positive development. Instead of spending billions and billions, you’ll spend less than you come up with, hopefully the same solution,” Trump said.
The Chinese company said it spent a paltry $5.6 million coming up with its AI — a drop in the bucket compared to leading US firms’ investment — and claimed to use relatively inexpensive chips to do it. The new offering instantly surged to be a top download on app platforms Monday.
