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A range of Chinese companies is already diving head first into Chinese AI giant DeepSeek’s latest offering, with Baidu and Tencent confirming they would both incorporate the company’s latest AI model.
DeepSeek changed the AI industry when it announced its R1 model last month, which was able to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT despite making use of much weaker NVIDIA chipsets thanks to US export legislation that banned Chinese firms from using the industry standard.
It also managed to develop the model at a much lower price and is an open-source offering, unlike its US rival.
Previous Chinese attempts at AI models as a result have been disappointing, including Chinese search engine Baidu’s Ernie Bot, which was launched in 2023.
Baidu now says it would be implementing DeepSeek as well as its own Ernie Bot into its search function, promising “expert-level” responses and a “more diversified search experience”.
Tencent, a rival of Baidu, also plans to implement a DeepSeek R1-powered AI search function in its WeChat service.
It is also considering trialling the implementation of DeepSeek across its other offerings and is already testing its own AI reasoning model to make responses sound “more human”.
Other Chinese firms considering implementing DeepSeek include Alibaba, Huawei, Honor, Meizu, Oppo, and Vivo.
Governments and organisations outside of China are less excited by the new Chinese AI, with nations around the world banning the new model.
Most recently, South Korea suspended new downloads of DeepSeek over concerns the company had breached its privacy legislation.
The country’s data protection watchdog, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), confirmed that DeepSeek had shared data with TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
Under South Korean data protection legislation, organisations require explicit consent to share data with a third-party organisation.
DeepSeek’s legal representatives in South Korea acknowledged that it failed to address parts of the nation’s data protection law.
The PIPC said that once DeepSeek takes into account its data protection legislation, downloads of the app would be resumed.
“To prevent further concerns from spreading, the commission recommended that DeepSeek temporarily suspend its service while making the necessary improvements,” said the commission.
Italy, which was one of the first nations to ban DeepSeek, also said its reasoning was DeepSeek’s failure to adhere to the nation’s data protection legislation.
The Australian federal government, as well as state governments, have also banned the platform for government devices.
“The Albanese government is taking swift and decisive action to protect Australia’s national security and national interest,” Tony Burke, the Minister for Home Affairs, said.
“AI is a technology full of potential and opportunity – but the government will not hesitate to act when our agencies identify a national security risk.”
However, Minister Burke added that DeepSeek’s country of origin – China – was not the direct cause of concern. Rather, it was the wider risk the chatbot posed to government assets.
Despite exemptions from the federal government ban, federal corporations AusPost, the NBN and the ABC have also banned the platform.
The PIPC added that the changes DeepSeek would be required to make would “inevitably take a significant amount of time”.
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