The Chinese AI engine DeepSeek has hit prime time, quickly vaulting to the number one downloaded application in the Apple Store, as their open-source model and use of context caching has caused a bit of an earthquake among the AI engine offerings with their efficiency.
China is in the AI game
The company is in Hangzhou, China. Its founder Liang Wenfeng attended Zhejiang University. Reading what the technologists have to say it’s clear: DeepSeek took a new approach to artificial intelligence (AI).
Their technological breakthrough is attributed to both how the large language models are managed and queried as well as running on less expensive chips. The MIT Technology Review, tells us that the company stockpiled Nvidea A100 chips, now banned from import to China. How many? The numbers range from 5000 to 30,000 of the A100 GPUs. These are believed to be augmented by as many as 50,000 Hopper GPU according to both Chinese and western sources.
For those wondering if the Chinese government is staying on the sidelines with respect to AI and DeepSeek – the answer is no to both. AI is a strategic initiative of the government and the prohibition on access to western technology has slowed but not stopped the Chinese innovation. DeepSeek is being heralded as breaking down that barrier, and it very well may have succeeded. And if you’re wondering about the company’s alignment with the Chinest government, the founder had a well-publicized meeting with Chinese Premier Xi on January 20.
Reasons DeepSeek is security and privacy concern
Privacy Concerns: Chinese platforms are subject to surveillance laws. Chinese cybersecurity and data security laws compel DeepSeek to share their accumulated information with the regime. While the app may be free of malware or direct data harvesting of your device, the long game is in play, and collecting your queries and responses means a beautiful mosaic will be available.
Censorship and Bias: One of the main issues with Bytedance’s TikTok is that the algorithm was not available for scrutiny, and thus the very real concern is that the content is being shaped for specific audiences based on geography, locale, and persona. One should be concerned about Deepseek in the exact same context: content may be filtered or biased to align with government-approved narratives, limiting open discourse or balanced answers.
Trust Issues: The platform might not disclose how it uses data or algorithms, creating uncertainty about the reliability or safety of interactions.
Keep DeepSeek off work devices
Bottom line: if you use DeepSeek, use it for your hobbies and interests and not your intellectual property and government secrets work. And keep it off your work devices. As DeepSeek builds their user base into the hundreds of millions, we should also learn how to say “Data Harvest” in Chinese (数据收获 -Shùjù shōuhuò).
