Facing US export controls, China's DeepSeek plans to make its own chips

DeepSeek, a Chinese startup developing large language models, is planning to design its own data center chips for inference as a response to US export controls that limit its access to foreign semiconductors. The company has been working on this effort for about a year and is hiring engineers and meeting with hardware partners. This move is urgent for DeepSeek because US export bans prevent access to one major chipmaker, while another controls about half of China's data center chip market, leaving the startup dependent on limited options. The situation parallels efforts by US-based AI companies, which are also designing custom chips to reduce reliance on existing suppliers and gain greater control over their technology stacks.