Organised AI chip smuggling to China has been tracked out of countries including Malaysia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, the source said. The Commerce Department and DeepSeek did not immediately return requests for comment.

Two U.S. Congress members are calling on President Donald Trump's administration to consider restricting the export of artificial intelligence chips made by Nvidia, alleging Chinese AI firm DeepSeek has relied on them.

Nvidia said in a statement it is "ready to work with the administration as it pursues its own approach to AI."

Export controls need to be tightened after revelations the Chinese company used Nvidia technology, the leaders of a congressional committee said.