But the story of DeepSeek also reveals just how much Chinese technological development continues to depend on the United States. DeepSeek used chips from the U.S. giant Nvidia to create its model, and, as it turns out, may have also tapped American data to train it. Washington can capitalize on that advantage to choke off Chinese tech firms.

Governments across Asia are cracking down on DeepSeek, amid growing concerns that the Chinese AI chatbot could compromise national security. South Korea is the latest to block DeepSeek's access to various governmental departments.