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Their country’s war rarely tops global news bulletins, and Sudan has never had a film at Sundance before.So the makers of documentary “Khartoum” carried their national flag with pride and a sense of deep responsibility to their premiere at the influential US movie festival on Monday.”The film is acting as an ambassador,” said Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad, co-director of the movie, which portrays five ordinary people from Sudan’s capital, all forced to flee the violence.”On a national level, everyone’s looking up at us now and telling us, ‘You guys should push forward to let the world know what’s happening in Sudan,'” he told AFP before the premiere.”Not begging, or in a pathetic way, but in a way that says ‘Hey, hey, world, we’re here.'”For nearly two years, Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal war between its army chief and the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).The conflict has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, uprooted more than 12 million and pushed many Sudanese to the brink of famine.The film project kicked off in late 2022, originally intended to be a “cinematic poem” of everyday life in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, filmed on location with donated iPhones.Although a brief period of civilian rule had just been swiftly thwarted by military leaders, the filmmakers initially recorded their subjects in relative calm, following a civil servant, a tea vendor, a pro-democracy “resistance volunteer” and two young boys.Civil servant Majdi tended to his racing pigeons. Mischievous young best friends Lokain and Wilson sifted through trash to raise money to buy beautiful shirts from the market.”We were just this close to finishing the film — the last 20 percent — but then war broke out,” recalled Ahmad.Amid the chaos, “at some point we lost contact with the characters,” but the filmmakers were able to locate their subjects and help them flee abroad.Once safely outside the country, the entire film team met up for a workshop to decide whether — and how — to continue.They settled on an experimental format, in which the five subjects narrated their experiences of the onset of war in front of a green screen, which would later be filled with images matching their accounts.”Animation, interviews, dreamscape sequences, reenactments — all of that into one big mix, which is ‘Khartoum,'” said Ahmad.- ‘Dead end’ -Various countries including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Russia have been accused of supporting, or in some cases arming, sides in the conflict.The United States has leveled sanctions on the warring Sudanese parties, but is accused by observers of failing to pressure governments supporting the war from the outside, including ally UAE.Ahmad and his co-directors hope that by bringing international attention to the war, they can indirectly reach or influence those deciding on policies.”Look at this room. There’s at least 200 people. Now everyone knows the word Khartoum,” Ahmad told AFP at a Sundance event.”Let’s say only one or two percent of them will look up, ‘what’s Khartoum, what’s Sudan, what’s happening?’ They will spark a conversation.”Perhaps the film’s most poignant moments come from young Lokain and Wilson, who laugh about how they think the warring adults are “stupid,” and busy themselves with daydreams of riding a magical lion around Khartoum.During one interview, the smiles suddenly disappear, as they describe the arrival of an RSF assault.”There was one guy who had no head. Another, whose face was burned. Another, his body in pieces,” they recall.Ahmad, who has a background in journalism, said he hopes the film can prove more effective than his previous news work, which had come to feel “like it’s a dead end” in reaching global audiences.If it can prompt “just a simple discussion with your friend about Sudan, what’s happening — it’s more than enough,” he said.

A radical White House freeze on potentially trillions of dollars in US government spending including on grants and loans was due to take effect Tuesday, sparking accusations that President Donald Trump is violating the constitution.The order from the White House budget office, issued a week after Trump began his second term, threatens to disrupt hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for everything from local governments to education and small business loans.It was not clear in the memo, issued Monday by acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Matthew Vaeth, how such a pause on disbursements of funding will work or for how long.The extraordinary measure follows a similar announcement that US foreign aid is also frozen.Trump won the presidency in part on promises to dismantle large sections of the US government and to slash spending. He has made clear he intends to review all federal programs — and many of the employees — to check that they meet his political goals.The budget office memo said “this temporary pause will provide the Administration time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities.”However, it remained unclear whether the president has authority to halt spending approved by Congress, which under the constitution holds power over the US budget.Democrats immediately accused Trump of a power grab and of putting swaths of the country, which is reliant on federal funds, at risk.- ‘Political vandalism?’ -Senator Patty Murray called the order “a brazen & illegal move.””The law is the law — Trump must immediately reverse course, follow the requirements of the law, & ensure the nation’s spending laws are implemented as Congress intended,” she posted on X.Another senator, Richard Blumenthal, said the “illegal” order will create “havoc” in medical and research facilities, which receive major government funding.”This is political vandalism. Taking a wrecking ball to federal agencies does nothing to make government more efficient but it is already doing grave damage to people and programs throughout the country,” Senator Chris Van Hollen said on X.The OMB memo stated that “federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance and other relevant agency activities.”It excluded Social Security and Medicare benefits — used by retirees — from this pause.Areas that might be impacted, it said, include “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal” — references to racial equality and climate change programs.”Career and political appointees in the Executive Branch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities,” Vaeth said.He added that financial aid should be “dedicated to advancing Administration priorities,” issues like easing the burden of inflation, unleashing US energy and manufacturing, and “ending ‘wokeness.'”Federal spending included more than $3 trillion in financial assistance like grants and loans in fiscal year 2024.

Two military planes sent from Colombia to fetch dozens of its nationals expelled from the United States arrived in Bogota on Tuesday after a blazing row with Donald Trump over migrant deportations.Colombian President Gustavo Petro posted photographs on social media of migrants disembarking without handcuffs, and wrote: “They are Colombians, free and dignified, and in their homeland where they are loved.””The migrant is not a criminal but a human being who wants to work and progress, live life,” he added.Petro, Colombia’s first-ever leftist president, on Sunday stepped back from the brink of a full-blown trade war with the United States after Trump threatened the country with sanctions and massive tariffs for turning back two US military planes carrying deported migrants.The planes were refused after Petro took umbrage at the treatment meted out to Brazilians expelled from the United States and flown home in handcuffs and shackled at the ankles.In a break with his predecessors, Trump, inaugurated as US president last week, has also begun using military aircraft.Petro insisted he would only accept migrants who were not treated “like criminals.”Bogota sent two Colombian air force planes Monday with medical staff on board to fetch its nationals in the cities of San Diego and Houston.”We arrived well, thank God,” one of the deportees told Caracol Radio at Bogota’s El Dorado airport after the planes landed at an air base nearby.”We’re not criminals,” added the woman, who recounted her journey via Mexico to reach the United States, only to be arrested for not having immigration papers.- ‘America is respected again’ -Petro, a former guerrilla, was the first Latin American leader to defy Trump over his mass deportation plans.But his resistance fizzled in the face of Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on Colombian imports — despite the two countries having a free-trade agreement — and the suspension of US visa applications.Petro threatened retaliatory steps before backing down following an outcry at home over what many saw as a hot-headed handling of the dispute.Trump called off his threatened tariff hikes but said the visa measures would stay in place until the first planeload of deportees returned home.The Republican leader claimed victory Monday, telling a congressional lawmakers’ retreat in Miami that “America is respected again.” Trump insisted that “as you saw yesterday, we’ve made it clear to every country that they will be taking back our people, that we’re sending out the criminals… the illegal aliens coming from their countries.”If nations don’t accept their nationals back “fast,” added Trump, “they’ll pay a very high economic price.”Trump’s plan for mass migrant deportations has put him on a potential collision course with governments in Latin America — the original home of most of the United States’ estimated 11 million undocumented migrants.Since he took office a week ago, thousands of people have been sent back to countries including Guatemala and Mexico — but in most cases the deportations stemmed from agreements predating his return to power.While previous US administrations also routinely expelled illegal migrants, Trump has vowed the biggest deportation wave in history.Honduras has called for an urgent meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Thursday to discuss migration issues.

Two Colombian military planes with some 200 nationals expelled from the United States arrived in Bogota on Tuesday after a blazing row with Donald Trump over migrant deportations, the South American country’s president said.On social media, Gustavo Petro posted photographs of the migrants disembarking without handcuffs, and wrote: “They are Colombians, free and dignified, and in their homeland where they are loved.””The migrant is not a criminal but a human being who wants to work and progress, live life.”Petro on Sunday stepped back from the brink of a full-blown trade war with the United States after Trump threatened Colombia with sanctions and massive tariffs for turning back two US military planes carrying deported migrants.The planes were refused after Petro took umbrage at the treatment meted out to Brazilians expelled from the United States and flown home in handcuffs last week.Petro said he would only accept migrants who were not treated “like criminals.”Bogota sent two military planes Monday with medical staff on board to fetch its nationals in the cities of San Diego and Houston.

Fears of upheaval in the AI gold rush rocked Wall Street on Monday following the emergence of a popular ChatGPT-like model from China, with US President Donald Trump saying it was a “wake-up call” for Silicon Valley.Last week’s release of the latest DeepSeek model initially received limited attention, overshadowed by the inauguration of Trump on the same day.However, over the weekend, the Chinese artificial intelligence startup’s chatbot surged to become the most downloaded free app on Apple’s US App Store, displacing OpenAI’s ChatGPT.What truly rattled the industry was DeepSeek’s claim that it developed its latest model, the R1, at a fraction of the cost that major companies are investing in AI development, primarily on expensive Nvidia chips and software.The development is significant given the AI boom, ignited by ChatGPT’s release in late 2022, has propelled Nvidia to become one of the world’s most valuable companies.The news sent shockwaves through the US tech sector, exposing a critical concern: should tech giants continue to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into AI investment when a Chinese company can apparently produce a comparable model so economically?DeepSeek’s apparent advances were a poke in the eye to Washington and its priority of thwarting China by maintaining US technological dominance.Trump reacted quickly on Monday, saying the DeepSeek release “should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win.”He argued it could be a “positive” for US tech giants, adding: “instead of spending billions and billions, you’ll spend less, and you’ll come up with hopefully the same solution.”OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said in a post on X that it was “legit invigorating to have a new competitor.”He called DeepSeek’s R1 “an impressive model, particularly around what they’re able to deliver for the price,” and pledged to speed up some OpenAI releases.The development comes against the background of a US government push to ban Chinese-owned TikTok in the United States or force its sale.David Sacks, Trump’s AI advisor and prominent tech investor, said DeepSeek’s success justified the White House’s decision to reverse executive orders, issued under Joe Biden, that established safety standards for AI development.The regulations “would have hamstrung American AI companies without any guarantee that China would follow suit,” Sacks wrote on X.Adam Kovacevich, CEO of the tech industry trade group Chamber of Progress, echoed the sentiment: “Now the top AI concern has to be ensuring (the United States) wins.”Tech investor and Trump ally Marc Andreessen declared “Deepseek R1 is AI’s Sputnik moment,” referencing the 1957 launch of Earth’s first artificial satellite by the Soviet Union that stunned the Western world.”If China is catching up quickly to the US in the AI race, then the economics of AI will be turned on its head,” warned Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, in a note to clients.Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took to social media hours before markets opened to argue less expensive AI was good for everyone.But last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Nadella warned: “We should take the developments out of China very, very seriously.”Australia’s Science Minister Ed Husic raised privacy concerns, urging users to think carefully before downloading the chatbot.”There are a lot of questions that will need to be answered in time on quality, consumer preferences, data and privacy management,” Husic told national broadcaster ABC.”I would be very careful about that. These type of issues need to be weighed up carefully.” Microsoft, an eager adopter of generative AI, plans to invest $80 billion in AI this year, while Meta announced at least $60 billion in investments on Friday.- ‘Outplayed’ -Much of that investment goes into the coffers of Nvidia, whose shares plunged a staggering 17 percent on Monday.The situation is particularly remarkable since DeepSeek, as a Chinese company, lacks easy access to Nvidia’s state-of-the-art chips after the US government placed export restrictions on them.The export controls are “driving startups like DeepSeek to innovate in ways that prioritize efficiency, resource-pooling, and collaboration,” wrote the MIT Technology Review.Elon Musk, who has invested heavily in Nvidia chips for his company xAI, suspects DeepSeek of secretly accessing banned H100 chips — an accusation also made by the CEO of ScaleAI, a prominent Silicon Valley startup backed by Amazon and Meta.But such accusations “sound like a rich kids team got outplayed by a poor kids team,” wrote Hong Kong-based investor Jen Zhu Scott on X.In a statement, Nvidia said DeepSeek’s technology was “fully export control compliant.” 

US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order ridding the military of what he called “transgender ideology,” in a potentially major setback for LGBTQ rights.In a series of orders related to the military that Trump told reporters he had signed on Air Force One, he also called for the building of a US version of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.The Republican signed further orders reinstating service members dismissed for refusing to take the Covid vaccine, and extending a wider government crackdown on diversity programs for the armed forces.”To ensure that we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will get transgender ideology the hell out of our military,” Trump told a Republican congressional retreat in Miami.Trump has previously promised to bring back a ban on transgender troops and demonized any recognition of gender diversity.In his order, Trump claimed the armed forces “have been afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists” and that “many mental and physical health conditions are incompatible with active duty.”The order said “adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.””A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member,” it added. In a separate order, Trump claimed diversity programs in the military “undermine leadership, merit, and unit cohesion, thereby eroding lethality and force readiness.”It also prohibited the defense department and armed forces from promoting “un-American” theories suggesting America’s founding documents are racist or sexist or advancing discussion on “gender ideology.”The orders came at the start of Trump’s second week back in the White House and on the day a welcome ceremony was held at the Pentagon for his new defense secretary, military veteran and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth.”Thank you for your leadership Mr. President. We will execute!” Hegseth — who was confirmed last week despite concerns over his inexperience, and alleged record of heavy drinking and domestic violence — said on X.Transgender Americans have faced a roller coaster of changing policies on military service in recent years, with Democratic administrations seeking to permit them to serve openly while Trump has repeatedly sought to keep them out of the ranks.The US military lifted a ban on transgender troops in 2016, during Democrat Barack Obama’s second term as president.Under that policy, trans troops already serving were permitted to do so openly, and transgender recruits were set to start being accepted by July 1, 2017.- ‘Patriots’ -But the first Trump administration postponed that date to 2018 before deciding to reverse the policy entirely, sparking criticism from rights groups.Trump’s Democratic successor Joe Biden moved to reverse the restrictions just days after he took office in 2021, saying all Americans qualified to serve should be able to do so.While the number of transgender troops in the US military is fairly small — with estimates of around 15,000 out of more than two million uniformed service members — their dismissal would reduce US forces at a time when the country is already facing difficulties recruiting new personnel.Biden’s defense secretary Lloyd Austin appeared to criticize Trump’s plans during a farewell address earlier this month, saying: “Any military that turns away qualified patriots who are eager to serve is just making itself smaller and weaker.”Transgender issues have roiled US politics in recent years, as states controlled by Democrats and Republicans have moved in opposite directions on policies ranging from medical treatment to what books on the topic are allowed in public or school libraries.Trump has meanwhile repeatedly promised to build a version of the Iron Dome system that Israel has used to shoot down missiles fired by Hamas from Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.But he ignored the fact that the system is designed for short-range threats, making it ill-suited to defending against intercontinental missiles that are the main danger to the United States.”We need to immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defense shield,” Trump said in Miami, adding that it would be “made right here in the USA.”

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to start planning for an “Iron Dome” air defense system for the United States, like the one that Israel has used to intercept thousands of rockets.Trump ordered the defense secretary to submit within 60 days an implementation plan for the “next-generation missile defense shield” designed to guard against ballistic, hypersonic and advanced cruise missiles, including by the development of space-based interceptors.During the 2024 election campaign Trump repeatedly promised to build a version of Israel’s Iron Dome system for the United States.However, he ignored the fact that the system is designed for short-range threats, making it ill-suited to defending against intercontinental missiles that are the main danger to the United States.”Over the past 40 years, rather than lessening, the threat from next-generation strategic weapons has become more intense and complex,” Monday’s executive order said, citing unnamed adversaries’ development of missile launch capabilities.Trump had earlier told a Republican congressional retreat in Miami that the system would be built in the United States. Israel has used its “Iron Dome” system to shoot down rockets fired by its regional foes Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon during the war sparked by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.”They knock down just about every one of them,” Trump said at the Miami meeting. “So I think the United States is entitled to that.”The president signed several other orders related to the US military on Monday, including one setting the path for transgender people to be banned from the armed forces.

US President Donald Trump said Monday he had signed an executive order ridding the military of what he called “transgender ideology,” in a potentially major setback for LGBTQ rights.In a series of orders related to the military that Trump told reporters he had signed on Air Force One, he also called for the building of a US version of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.The Republican signed further orders reinstating service members dismissed for refusing to take the Covid vaccine, and extending a wider government crackdown on diversity programs to the armed forces.”To ensure that we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will get transgender ideology the hell out of our military,” Trump told a Republican congressional retreat earlier in Miami.Trump has previously promised to bring back a ban on transgender troops, but it was not immediately clear what specific steps were contained in the new order, which has not yet been published.A White House official with him said the order involved “eliminating gender radicalism in the military.”Trump’s orders came at the start of his second week back in the White House and on the day a welcome ceremony was held at the Pentagon for his new defense secretary, military veteran and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth.”Thank you for your leadership Mr. President. We will execute!” Hegseth — who was confirmed last week despite concerns over his inexperience, and alleged record of heavy drinking and domestic violence — said on X.Transgender Americans have faced a roller coaster of changing policies on military service in recent years, with Democratic administrations seeking to permit them to serve openly while Trump has repeatedly sought to keep them out of the ranks.The US military lifted a ban on transgender troops serving in the armed forces in 2016, during Democrat Barack Obama’s second term as president.Under that policy, trans troops already serving were permitted to do so openly, and transgender recruits were set to start being accepted by July 1, 2017.- ‘Patriots’ -But the first Trump administration postponed that date to 2018 before deciding to reverse the policy entirely, sparking criticism from rights groups.Trump claimed that transgender service members were disruptive, expensive and eroded military readiness and camaraderie among troops.Trump’s Democratic successor Joe Biden moved to reverse the restrictions just days after he took office in 2021, saying all Americans qualified to serve should be able to do so.While the number of transgender troops in the American military is fairly small — with estimates of some 15,000 out of more than two million uniformed service members — their dismissal would reduce US forces at a time when the country is already facing difficulties recruiting new personnel.Biden’s outgoing defense secretary Lloyd Austin appeared to criticize Trump’s plans during a farewell address earlier this month, saying: “Any military that turns away qualified patriots who are eager to serve is just making itself smaller and weaker.”Transgender issues have roiled US politics in recent years, as states controlled by Democrats and Republicans have moved in opposite directions on policies ranging from medical treatment to what books on the topic are allowed in public or school libraries.Trump has meanwhile repeatedly promised to build a version of the Iron Dome system that Israel has used to shoot down missiles fired by Hamas from Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.But he ignored the fact that the system is designed for short-range threats, making it ill-suited to defending against intercontinental missiles that are the main danger to the United States.”We need to immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defense shield,” Trump said in Miami, adding that it would be “made right here in the USA.”

When President Donald Trump learned Colombia had pushed back on US deportations, his threat of a massive trade war laid out the stakes: cooperate, or else.Tariffs, just as they were during his first term from 2017 to 2021, are Trump’s weapon of choice on the global stage.While it may be too early to tell how successful of a tactic they are against both US allies and rivals such as China, it shows how Trump — who prides himself on his negotiating skills — will not hesitate to take a hard line to get what he wants.- ‘Leverage’ -After a rollercoaster Sunday with dueling tariff threats between Washington and Bogota, the White House said Colombian President Gustavo Petro had backed down and accepted the terms of repatriating immigrants from the United States.Trump had first threatened to levy 25 percent tariffs on all imported Colombian goods in a heated response to Petro refusing to accept two military planes carrying deported migrants.It was not clear whether leftist Petro had conceded his demand that the migrants be treated “with dignity.”Planes sent by Bogota to ferry the migrants would nonetheless return by Monday or Tuesday “at the latest,” according to Daniel Garcia Pena, Colombia’s ambassador to the United States.Eddy Acevedo, chief of staff at the nonpartisan Woodrow Wilson Center think tank, said Petro “quickly became aware of the amount of leverage the United States has with Colombia and that his reckless decision could jeopardize.””Last year alone, Petro had no problem allowing in 14,000 Colombians that were deported from the United States back to Colombia,” Acevedo said. – ‘America First’ in action -White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt was quick to declare victory Sunday, saying: “Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again.”Trump himself echoed the sentiment on Monday, telling reporters on Air Force One that “it serves the world well to look at” the Colombia spat.Trump’s plan for mass deportations of migrants has put him on a potential collision course with governments across Latin America, the original home of most of the United States’ estimated 11 million undocumented migrants.”The message that’s being sent is how willing the Trump administration is to use these tools, and the fact that they got the opportunity to make that point in the first week of the administration, I’m sure, is quite pleasing for them,” said Kevin Whitaker, the former US ambassador to Colombia who now serves as a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council.True to the promises he made on the campaign trail, Trump spent his first week back in power working to implement his “America First” diplomatic credo.In doing so, he has also threatened to levy tariffs against Canada and Mexico if they did not comply with his immigration demands.He also announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization (WHO) during a slew of executive orders he signed.In addition, Trump ordered a pause to US foreign aid — except for Egypt, Israel and emergency food aid — until a complete review is performed to see if it aligns with his agenda.Trump has also threatened to “take back” control of the Panama Canal, claimed it was in Canada’s best interest to become the 51st state, and reaffirmed his desire to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.In the latter case, Trump has brandished tariffs against a fellow NATO ally.And at the Davos forum last week, Trump in a videocall told the audience of business leaders to be prepared to come and produce goods in the United States, or else get ready to pay tariffs.

Fears of upheaval in the AI gold rush rocked Wall Street on Monday following the emergence of a popular ChatGPT-like model from China, with US President Donald Trump saying it was a “wake-up call” for Silicon Valley.Last week’s release of the latest DeepSeek model initially received limited attention, overshadowed by the inauguration of Trump on the same day.However, over the weekend, the Chinese artificial intelligence startup’s chatbot surged to become the most downloaded free app on Apple’s US App Store, displacing OpenAI’s ChatGPT.What truly rattled the industry was DeepSeek’s claim that it developed its latest model, the R1, at a fraction of the cost that major companies are investing in AI development, primarily on expensive Nvidia chips and software.The development is significant given the AI boom, ignited by ChatGPT’s release in late 2022, has propelled Nvidia to become one of the world’s most valuable companies.The news sent shockwaves through the US tech sector, exposing a critical concern: should tech giants continue to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into AI investment when a Chinese company can apparently produce a comparable model so economically?DeepSeek’s apparent advances were a poke in the eye to Washington and its priority of thwarting China by maintaining American technological dominance.Trump reacted quickly on Monday, saying the DeepSeek release “should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win.”He argued that it could be a “positive” for US tech giants, adding: “instead of spending billions and billions, you’ll spend less, and you’ll come up with hopefully the same solution.”The development also comes against a background of a US government push to ban Chinese-owned TikTok in the United States or force its sale.David Sacks, Trump’s AI advisor and prominent tech investor, said DeepSeek’s success justified the White House’s decision to reverse executive orders, issued under Joe Biden, that established safety standards for AI development.The regulations “would have hamstrung American AI companies without any guarantee that China would follow suit,” Sacks wrote on X.Adam Kovacevich, CEO of the tech industry trade group Chamber of Progress, echoed the sentiment: “Now the top AI concern has to be ensuring (the United States) wins.”Tech investor and Trump ally Marc Andreessen declared “Deepseek R1 is AI’s Sputnik moment,” referencing the 1957 launch of Earth’s first artificial satellite by the Soviet Union that stunned the Western world. “If China is catching up quickly to the US in the AI race, then the economics of AI will be turned on its head,” warned Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, in a note to clients.Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took to social media hours before markets opened to argue less expensive AI was good for everyone.But last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Nadella warned: “We should take the developments out of China very, very seriously.”Microsoft, an eager adopter of generative AI, plans to invest $80 billion in AI this year, while Meta announced at least $60 billion in investments on Friday.- ‘Outplayed’ -Much of that investment goes into the coffers of Nvidia, whose shares plunged a staggering 17 percent on Monday.The situation is particularly remarkable since DeepSeek, as a Chinese company, lacks easy access to Nvidia’s state-of-the-art chips after the US government placed export restrictions on them.The esteemed Stratechery tech newsletter and others suggested that DeepSeek’s innovations stemmed from necessity, as lacking access to powerful Nvidia-designed chips forced them to develop novel methods.The export controls are “driving startups like DeepSeek to innovate in ways that prioritize efficiency, resource-pooling, and collaboration,” wrote the MIT Technology Review.Elon Musk, who has invested heavily in Nvidia chips for his company xAI, suspects DeepSeek of secretly accessing banned H100 chips — an accusation also made by the CEO of ScaleAI, a prominent Silicon Valley startup backed by Amazon and Meta.But such accusations “sound like a rich kids team got outplayed by a poor kids team,” wrote Hong Kong-based investor Jen Zhu Scott on X.In a statement, Nvidia said DeepSeek’s technology was “fully export control compliant.”