The sudden rise of Chinese AI app DeepSeek has leaders in Washington and Silicon Valley grappling with how to keep the U.S. ahead in the crucial technology.

The success of DeepSeek’s new AI model points to how China might eventually achieve an even bigger technological breakthrough in the face of US export curbs: Producing its own cutting-edge chips.As tech leaders and politicians marvel at DeepSeek’s apparent ability to build an innovative AI model without spending nearly as much as rivals in the US,