Scale AI CEO to meet with White House, Congress over China AI threat: report

An artificial intelligence whiz — who raised red flags last month about Chinese AI startup DeepSeek — is heading to Washington, DC, to discuss the threat posed by Beijing’s stunning advancement in the vital sector.

Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang – whose $14 billion US-based firm works with the federal government as well as major players like OpenAI, Google and Meta – will also discuss AI’s impact on the US economy and how America can win its race with China, Axios reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The meetings will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wang is set for talks with Trump administration officials as well as US lawmakers, according to the report.

Representatives for Scale did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment.

US tech leaders and government officials have been grappling with the fallout after DeepSeek claimed to have trained an advanced AI model for less than $6 million – and without access to chip supplier Nvidia’s best hardware due to export controls.

The announcement – referred to as AI’s “Sputnik moment” by billionaire investor Marc Andreessen – sparked chaos as investors feared that China has erased the US lead in AI development.

Others worried that US AI firms like Google and Microsoft have wildly overspent on advanced hardware that may be less necessary to development than thought.

Wang has been among the most outspoken US tech leaders about the geopolitical implications of DeepSeek’s rapid advancement.

Last month, Scale AI and Wang took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post that said, “Dear President Trump, America must win the AI war.”

Wang also told CNBC that DeepSeek was “roughly on par with the best American models.”

He also asserted that DeepSeek has 50,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced computer chips but can’t publicly acknowledge them due to US export controls limiting their sale to China.

“I think it is true that, you know, I think they have more chips than other people expect, but also going to go forward basis, they are going to be limited by the chip controls and the export controls that we have in place,” Wang said in the interview.

Elon Musk, who runs his own artificial intelligence firm called xAI, chimed in to say that Wang was “obviously” correct.

US officials are reportedly probing whether DeepSeek may have gotten some Nvidia chips through third-parties in Singapore to circumvent the restrictions.

Wang is the latest in a procession of US tech executives who have traveled to the White House in recent weeks.

The list includes OpenAI boss Sam Altman as well as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.