The Commerce Department has launched a probe into whether Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek obtained restricted Nvidia chips through Singapore, reports say.

Powerful artificial intelligence software from Chinese startup DeepSeek indicates that its engineers built a competitive model despite US attempts to curtail China’s tech development, raising questions about the effectiveness of Washington’s trade curbs.

China's DeepSeek last week launched a free assistant it says uses less data at a fraction of the cost of U.S. models. Within days, it became the most downloaded app in Apple's App Store and stirred concerns about United States' lead in AI,