"The second-mover can move very quickly, especially if we've already done the innovation," Karp said, describing DeepSeek as derivative of U.S. models with "improvements at the margins."
He expects a "huge policy discussion" to make sure innovations are not exported, but Karp added that in the end, "the real advantage goes to the first mover as long as the first mover is running hard. ... We have the lead, we have to focus on making sure we keep it. Our adversaries are gonna copy anything they can."