Published 01/28/2025 13:05 | Edited 28/01/2025 18:50
The recent rise of Chinese startup Deepseek, which launched an artificial intelligence model (AI) as efficient as those developed by giants such as OpenAi and Google, but at a substantially lower cost, puts the billionaire investment strategy announced by Donald Trump to Ensure the leadership of the United States in the global technological race.
This Monday (27), the Republican classified as “positive” the progress achieved by DeepSek during a speech to the Chamber’s co -religionists. Reactive, Trump also stated that he will soon impose rates on foreign pharmaceutical products, semiconductors and metals entering the US market.
In a inauguration, Trump announced an investment of up to $ 500 billion through the creation of an entity called Stargate, with the aim of establishing a massive IA infrastructure in Texas.
However, the emergence of Deepseek, one developed by a company with much more modest resources, brought to light serious questions about the effectiveness of such investments and the real competitiveness of the US against Chinese innovation.
Trump’s promise and his early failure
The Trump Stargate project, designed to create colossal data centers and promote AI advancement in the country, was announced with high expectations. The strategy included partnerships with companies such as OpenAi, Oracle and Softbank and aimed at consolidating US dominance in AI development, especially in a growing rivalry scenario with China.
However, the recent performance of DeepSeek, whose model R1 rivals those of large western companies, has shown that Trump’s approach may be failing. AI Chinese has achieved results comparable to those of intensive resources in resources, but at a significant cost, challenging the need for billions of dollars proposed by the Stargate project.
In addition, the financial impact was immediate. On the same day of launching the R1 model, the actions of major US technology companies, including Nvidia and Oracle, suffered drastic declines, with Nvidia recording a historical loss of US $ 600 billion in market value. The market reacted with a strong devaluation of AI leading companies, reflecting a critical reevaluation of the future of industry.
US containment strategy and Chinese reality
To contain China’s advance in AI, the United States has adopted a number of rigorous restrictions, including the ban on exporting advanced chips to the Asian country, essential for training AI models training.
Trump, in his attempt to protect US technological leadership, announced the imposition of tariffs on semiconductors and other essential products, seeking to bring the production of chips back to the American ground.
However, the advancement deepseek suggests that these containment measures may have had the opposite effect, stimulating innovation within China. Chinese engineers, with limited resources and without access to the most sophisticated chips, have been able to develop a competitive AI through more efficient approaches, which do not depend on the high investments required by US companies.
This advance evidences a strategic failure: instead of stifling Chinese innovation, sanctions may have forced China to seek creative solutions, accelerating the development of alternative technologies. Deepseek, for example, used only 2,000 Nvidia H800 chips, significantly less than the 16,000 chips needed for US AI models. This demonstrates that innovation can be achieved without the excessive expenditure of resources, tonic of capitalist logic and symbol of the Trump era.
Trump’s alert and the reality of the market
Although the US president recognized DeepSeek as a “warning” for his country’s industry, he also considered the emergence of Chinese AI as an “asset” for the market.
In his speech, he emphasized that the ability to develop cutting -edge technologies at a lower cost would be beneficial to the US as it would allow the adaptation of more economical and equally efficient models. However, the market reaction and the loss of $ 1 trillion in the market value of large Techs show that the impact of DeepSeek is more significant than Trump may have anticipated.
The promise that the US still maintains the technological advantage due to the superiority of its scientists is increasingly threatened by the agility and efficiency of Chinese startups.
The geopolitical impact and the future of the technological race
The challenge represented by DeepSek goes beyond the economy and the financial market. Technological competition between the US and China, particularly in the AI sector, has deep geopolitical implications that can redefine the global balance of power. Trump, when trying to preserve American supremacy, now finds himself in a difficult position, with a more adaptable and innovative China, capable of circumventing barriers and overcoming the race with a fraction of western investment costs.
This reality questions the “America First” model adopted by Trump, revealing that in the AI scenario, innovation and efficiency may not depend exclusively on massive investments, but also on adaptability and strategic use of resources. The powers of the future will be those that can not only mobilize large capitals, but also explore new forms of technological development that break with the traditional model.
Source: vermelho.org.br