The US has opted to delay blacklisting Chinese AI developer DeepSeek, memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), and more than 100 other firms. The reason is straightforward: Washington doesn’t want to pour gasoline on an already smoldering relationship with Beijing.
The Commerce Department’s Entity List, which restricts American technology exports to designated companies, has been the primary weapon in that campaign. But adding over 100 firms in one stroke would represent a significant escalation, and right now, diplomacy appears to be winning the internal debate.
The companies in the crosshairs
DeepSeek has emerged as one of China’s most formidable AI developers. The company released its V3 and R1 models, which demonstrated rapid capability gains that caught Washington’s attention. Those models were reportedly built with the help of stockpiled chips, including Nvidia H800 processors, before US restrictions could fully bite.
NASA and the Pentagon both banned DeepSeek from their devices in 2025. But a full Entity List designation, which would cut the company off from a broader swath of American technology, has not materialized.
