When Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley and Wall Street with its powerful new AI model, Mr Marc Andreessen, the Silicon Valley investor, went so far as to describe it as “AI’s Sputnik moment”. Presumably, Mr Andreessen wasn’t calling on the federal government to start a massive new programme like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which was our response to the Soviet Union’s Sputnik satellite launch; he wants the US government to flood private industry with capital, to ensure that America remains technologically and economically dominant.

As an antitrust enforcer, I see a different metaphor. DeepSeek is the canary in the coal mine. It’s warning us that when there isn’t enough competition, our tech industry grows vulnerable to its Chinese rivals, threatening US geopolitical power in the 21st century.

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