China’s DeepSeek headlines over the past week did not let me broach any topic other than Chinese influence operations and cyber warfare. And so here I am, writing a sequel to my previous one!
The launch of DeepSeek by China shocked the entire tech world. For years, U.S. export restrictions had kept essential AI Chips out of China’s grasp, which many believed would hinder China’s digital progress. Furthermore, China’s own censorship policy, the Great Firewall, was also considered impeding its pursuit of AI supremacy. However, DeepSeek’s debut showcases China’s resilience and determination to assert its place in the global AI arena.
The Chinese fund manager garnered significant acclaim for developing an affordable yet highly effective AI, but many industry experts rebut his low-cost claim, contending that he made a billion-dollar investment in hardware and had procured AI Chips way ahead of US restrictions or might have made a black market purchase! Regardless of the DeepSeek investment details, the achievement of his 1-year-old Chinese company certainly raised doubts about the validity of years of US research and the necessity of massive investments in AI. As a result, this Chinese “six million dollar man” shook US tech giants and wiped off $1 trillion of their market value in a single day. Though the market revived the next day, his smarter and cheaper AI has undoubtedly intensified the global competition.
Although China remains the state-run world factory churning out cheap lots for Western brands, over the past decade, it has significantly strengthened its presence in the global digital infrastructure through its advanced hardware, software, and innovative technologies, thereby emerging as “wǎngluò qiángguó,” the “cyber superpower” as envisioned by President Xi Jinping. The effectiveness of China’s cyber policy is evident in the fact that, despite security concerns, its AI software, like all previous Chinese applications, surpassed America’s well-known apps by securing the number one spot on Apple’s App download chart.
The logo of this low-cost Chinese challenger, a fat blue whale, may seem friendly, symbolising an effortless deep dive into the world of AI. A wise gaze may reveal, perhaps, China’s secret desire! A blue whale into the sea of data, with an open mouth indicating a large appetite for information, a huge head housing a large analytical brain and a wide open eye representing China’s “Sharp Eye,” “the Xueliang Project” aiming 100 per cent surveillance.
China is utilising several apps, devices and its digital infrastructure to gather volumes of user data, including location history, fitness data, video surveillance, e-commerce transactions, travel bookings and sensitive personal details like PII, to seek deep insights and gain political, strategic or military leverage. Under the “Sharp Eyes Project,” China has developed a surveillance technology that integrates large amounts of data to monitor criminals and anticipate potential crimes and protests within the country! Given China’s progress in data harvesting and fusion techniques, its AI may prove to be a highly effective decision-making tool in every sphere of life, including education, healthcare, finance, travel and at all the levels of the society, from individual to the states. Nevertheless, considering the Chinese biases, propaganda motives and influence operations, one cannot rule out the risk of distorted output and data breach from its AI.
And so, countries like Italy, Taiwan, the United States and India have swiftly recognized the security risks associated with Chinese AI technologies and have prohibited government officials from using them to protect national interests. Conversely, several developing countries are turning to China’s Digital Silk Road initiative to meet their domestic digital requirements, ultimately enabling Chinese AI to exert significant influence and reshape many geopolitical equations! To effectively navigate this complex reality, strong international cooperation is essential, which can develop a reliable AI tool and a framework that maximizes the potential of AI by ensuring greater data access and privacy, paving the way for future innovations and positive change.
(The author is a foreign affairs expert. Views personal.)
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