The World is abuzz
with talk about DeepSeek, the newest and hottest kid on the AI block. Supposedly better than OpenAI’s o-1 model (though it cannot even extract a simple table from a pdf, though certainly great at other tasks), and cheaper than all realistic competitors, everyone who’s anyone is writing about DeepSeek, downloading it and plugging it into the daily workflow without a second’s thought.
Have we forgotten its origin? I am young and naive, perhaps, but did we not grow up hearing about the digital capabilities of China, it’s desire to control the internet and be the digital superpower? Have they not hacked and ransomed devices around the globe? So often have reporters written about concerns with intellectual property theft or worries about being copied and driven out of the market by cheap competitors undercutting the prices?
Now we have a brand new model, better and cheaper than the others. Apparently built at a fraction of the price. Trained, supposedly, on sanctioned U.S. hardware, somehow getting around them (with ease?).
When you ask R1 about Tianamen Square or Chinese censorship for example, it will politely tell you
Sorry, I’m not sure how to approach this type of question yet. Let’s chat about math, coding, and logic problems instead!
About Chinese censorship it will not talk, but prepares a full, well-written summary of Google’s search algorithm
Can we not see that maybe, just maybe, this is an attempt to control yet another market, to make it harder to compete on price, to control the narrative and gain influence?
I am not an advocate for OpenAI or Anthropic in particular… We should strive to create the best models possible, to build the future here. We can’t trust that these companies will only work with our best interests, and we should monitor them, know what they’re up to. Still, we should assume that their founders, are aligned with the interest of society?
I guess what I am trying to say is… Let’s be careful? We cannot let pure ease overcome what history has taught us, that we have to protect ourselves. Before we know it, we’ll be unable to use our laptops one day because they’re all infected.
Published on January 27, 2025