--- title: "Flailing OpenAI Calls for Ban on Chinese AI" description: "Failing to produce a model that can rival China's DeepSeek for efficiency, OpenAI is pleading for the government to step in." date: "2025-03-17" modified: "2025-03-17" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/openai-ban-chinese-ai-deepseek" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Future Society" - "OpenAI" tags: - "ai" - "china" - "OpenAI" --- # Flailing OpenAI Calls for Ban on Chinese AI ![Sam Altman, OpenAI's billionaire founder, gestures toward himself in front of an illustrated geometric background.]() *John MacDougall / AFP via Getty / Futurism \Image: John MacDougall / AFP via Getty / Futurism\* A year or two ago, OpenAI was on top of the world. Now... well, it's still probably still the world's buzziest AI startup, but its new models [aren't making the splash]() they once were, its business model is [as hazy as ever](), and competition is [rapidly catching up](). What does a $[300 billion tech company]() do in that situation? Double down on innovation and development — or blame a scary foreign bogeyman? Lately, it's sounding like the latter. In a recently published [white paper](), OpenAI called for US lawmakers to "coordinate a global ban" on what it calls "Chinese Communist Party aligned" AI models, such as its infamous competitor DeepSeek. DeepSeek made waves earlier this year when it announced an [AI model]() approximately on par with OpenAI's ChatGPT, which the Chinese company made for a fraction of the price. It was a major knock against American AI companies' costly [development strategy](), which may explain why OpenAI is now appealing to good old [American jingoism](). "While America maintains a lead on AI today, DeepSeek shows that our lead is not wide and is narrowing," OpenAI's paper reads. "The AI Action Plan should ensure that American-led AI prevails over CCP-led AI, securing both American leadership on AI and a brighter future for all Americans." That bright AI future feels about as far off as ever. In its current state, AI is mainly affecting Americans by [polluting the internet with slop](), [destroying the job market](), [silencing free speech](), and generally just [ruining the whole economy](). DeepSeek, for what it's worth, is privately owned and backed by [venture capitalists]() — similar to many American tech companies. While the AI company is now [closely guarded]() by the Chinese government as a matter of national security, there's no indication that DeepSeek is owned or controlled by the CCP. OpenAI, meanwhile, enjoys a lucrative relationship with the US government. In January, president Donald Trump announced that OpenAI would form the backbone of a $500 billion [AI infrastructure project](), prompting hopeful investors to [flood the company]() with cash. Though OpenAI's policy proposal accuses China of using "AI tools to amass power and control their citizens, or to threaten or coerce other states," it has little to say about the United States' own control over [global internet infrastructure](), or the [coordinated effort]() by American corporations to restrict US citizens from accessing DeepSeek. Indeed, there are plenty of glaring omissions of shady US tech dealings, like the [National Security Agency's use of Facebook]() to surveil citizens, or the war chest Silicon Valley is all too [eager to build]() for the Pentagon — even as OpenAI accuses DeepSeek of the same. It's all a pretty telling display. OpenAI concludes its paper by asking the state to blow the cap off of [personal privacy laws](), so that it can continue scraping our data to build its AI. What was that about amassing power to control citizens? Here's an idea: if OpenAI's billionaire founder feels he can't compete on the free and open market, maybe it's time to make way for someone who can. That's capitalism, after all. **More on OpenAI:** [*OpenAI Admits That Its New Model Still Hallucinates More Than a Third of the Time*]() ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()