OpenAI Appeals to the US Government: Competitive Concerns Over DeepSeek | Fatbobman’s Swift Weekly #075

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A few days ago, OpenAI submitted a fifteen-page memorandum to the U.S. government, elevating the competitive threat posed by DeepSeek to a national security concern and attempting to frame it as ideological competition. This submission was OpenAI’s feedback to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) regarding the publicly solicited Artificial Intelligence Action Plan.

I have never denied the importance of intellectual property rights, nor do I overlook the potential national security risks associated with national-level AI competition. However, for younger companies that have not yet established sufficient credibility regarding intellectual property, actively seeking policy protections might inadvertently weaken their innovative spirit and constrain their long-term growth.

Over the past two years, OpenAI and similar companies have consistently promoted the narrative that building leading large-scale AI models requires enormous financial resources and supercomputing power, setting extremely high barriers that ordinary players cannot overcome. Leveraging this narrative and their early-mover advantage, OpenAI has achieved remarkable valuation and continuously attracted significant investment. However, the emergence of DeepSeek…