Former U.S. President Donald Trump has raised concerns over China’s recent advancements in artificial intelligence, specifically pointing to the success of the Chinese AI company DeepSeek. In a recent statement, Trump described the launch of DeepSeek’s new model as a “wake-up call” for the United States.
The company’s latest release, DeepSeek-R1, launched in January 2025, has quickly gained global attention. Within weeks, it surpassed major Western AI models — including ChatGPT — on several metrics, and even topped app store charts in the U.S.
Trump highlighted the situation as a national concern, urging America to intensify its AI development efforts to remain competitive. He warned that the current pace of Chinese innovation could threaten U.S. leadership in one of the most critical sectors of the future.
“China is moving fast with AI,” Trump said. “We can’t afford to fall behind. The future is artificial intelligence, and we must lead it.”
The launch of DeepSeek-R1 has already impacted tech markets. Shares of companies like Microsoft and Nvidia experienced slight dips amid investor speculation that China’s open-source AI models could disrupt the balance of global innovation.
As China continues to make strides in AI development, experts and policymakers in the U.S. are now calling for increased investment, education, and public-private partnerships to secure America’s position as a global leader in artificial intelligence.