Kevin Roose

The leading AI models have gone from maybe being as smart as the average high school student to as smart as a college student to now being able to complete a lot of tasks that would have taken a PhD to complete. So these models are just getting much better very quickly. And a lot of folks in the AI community are just nervous about that. They say things like, well, maybe we're going to get...

The leading AI models have gone from maybe being as smart as the average high school student to as smart as a college student to now being able to complete a lot of tasks that would have taken a PhD to complete. So these models are just getting much better very quickly. And a lot of folks in the AI community are just nervous about that. They say things like, well, maybe we're going to get...

an AI that is as smart as the smartest humans in just a few years. And we don't really have a playbook for dealing with technology that is more intelligent than us. And so there are people who worry about these sort of runaway AI scenarios where you get super intelligent AIs that can sort of take control or maybe even harm humans.

an AI that is as smart as the smartest humans in just a few years. And we don't really have a playbook for dealing with technology that is more intelligent than us. And so there are people who worry about these sort of runaway AI scenarios where you get super intelligent AIs that can sort of take control or maybe even harm humans.

But even if you're not a believer in that kind of superhuman intelligence risk, There are just a lot of questions about whether we as a society are ready for advanced AI. Are we ready for the possibility that it could eliminate jobs? Are we ready for the possibility that it could really lead to a proliferation of misinformation or propaganda or even automated cyber attacks and things like that?

But even if you're not a believer in that kind of superhuman intelligence risk, There are just a lot of questions about whether we as a society are ready for advanced AI. Are we ready for the possibility that it could eliminate jobs? Are we ready for the possibility that it could really lead to a proliferation of misinformation or propaganda or even automated cyber attacks and things like that?

So all of that is swirling around the conversation about DeepSeek because we have just accelerated the AI race again. And now it is not just American companies competing with each other over who is in the lead of that race. China has also stepped in. And there's a lot of fear and anxiety about what happens if we fall behind.

So all of that is swirling around the conversation about DeepSeek because we have just accelerated the AI race again. And now it is not just American companies competing with each other over who is in the lead of that race. China has also stepped in. And there's a lot of fear and anxiety about what happens if we fall behind.

Well, it may well be, because if you're a person who believes that TikTok is a national security threat, there's nothing about DeepSeek that is less of a threat, right? It is a Chinese company. It is subject to all the same laws and censorship guidelines as other Chinese software companies are.

Well, it may well be, because if you're a person who believes that TikTok is a national security threat, there's nothing about DeepSeek that is less of a threat, right? It is a Chinese company. It is subject to all the same laws and censorship guidelines as other Chinese software companies are.

So, for example, if you ask DeepSeek to tell you what happened at Tiananmen Square or to say something mean about Xi Jinping, the leader of China, it won't do it. And I would not be surprised if in the coming weeks and months, we do see lawmakers in the US saying, wait a minute, we passed a law to ban TikTok. Why are we not also passing a law to ban DeepSeek?

So, for example, if you ask DeepSeek to tell you what happened at Tiananmen Square or to say something mean about Xi Jinping, the leader of China, it won't do it. And I would not be surprised if in the coming weeks and months, we do see lawmakers in the US saying, wait a minute, we passed a law to ban TikTok. Why are we not also passing a law to ban DeepSeek?

So I think that's one potential outcome here, but there's a key difference, which is that TikTok is not open source software. You cannot download TikTok and create your own version of it. And so already the DeepSeek platform models have been downloaded and recreated all over the world by lots and lots of different people and companies.

So I think that's one potential outcome here, but there's a key difference, which is that TikTok is not open source software. You cannot download TikTok and create your own version of it. And so already the DeepSeek platform models have been downloaded and recreated all over the world by lots and lots of different people and companies.

I think what the DeepSeek story suggests is that it is going to be quite challenging to contain the spread of powerful AI without some big moves.

I think what the DeepSeek story suggests is that it is going to be quite challenging to contain the spread of powerful AI without some big moves.

So there are people in the American tech scene who are calling this deep-seek moment the Sputnik moment for the AI race, because just as the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union kicked off the 20th century space race and created profound fear and anxiety among Western nations about whether they were behind, their biggest political adversary when it came to technology.

So there are people in the American tech scene who are calling this deep-seek moment the Sputnik moment for the AI race, because just as the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union kicked off the 20th century space race and created profound fear and anxiety among Western nations about whether they were behind, their biggest political adversary when it came to technology.

A lot of people are looking at this moment with DeepSeek as kicking off a new era in the AI race where we really want to stay ahead of China. And there are people who say that having a lead in AI, if you are the United States, even if it's just a lead of a couple months or a couple years over your political adversaries is very important. And that may be true.

A lot of people are looking at this moment with DeepSeek as kicking off a new era in the AI race where we really want to stay ahead of China. And there are people who say that having a lead in AI, if you are the United States, even if it's just a lead of a couple months or a couple years over your political adversaries is very important. And that may be true.