China Criticizes Tech Restrictions as Nations Limit DeepSeek
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs voiced strong opposition on Thursday to what it calls the politicization of technology, following reports that several countries have restricted access to DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) app that recently topped the U.S. iPhone app store charts.
“China has never—and will never—encourage businesses or individuals to collect or store users’ data through illegal means,” said Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun during a regular press briefing. “The Chinese government places significant emphasis on protecting data privacy and security, operating strictly within legal frameworks.”
DeepSeek’s surge in popularity has reportedly contributed to a decline in U.S. tech stocks due to its cutting-edge performance and low training costs. The app’s success has raised concerns in some countries, leading to access restrictions over data security fears.
Embracing Open AI Models
DeepSeek has taken an open approach to developing large AI models. Its latest offerings—including the V3 language model, R1 reasoning model, and Janus Pro vision model—are freely available for download. The company has also published research papers detailing their training methods, allowing developers worldwide to replicate the models using their own datasets.
When run locally, DeepSeek’s models do not require an internet connection and cannot transmit users’ private data to third parties—a feature not available in closed models from companies like OpenAI and Google. Marc Andreessen, venture capitalist and co-founder of Netscape, described DeepSeek-R1 as “a profound gift to the world.”
Additionally, DeepSeek offers a free online chat service, providing users globally with tools to understand and create internet memes, solve logical problems, and generate innovative ideas.
Competitors Shift Towards Openness
The success of DeepSeek has prompted other AI developers to adopt more open strategies. Shortly after DeepSeek gained widespread attention, U.S.-based OpenAI announced that the search functions for its ChatGPT service would now be available for free without requiring sign-up.
Alibaba, a leading Chinese internet company behind the Qwen series of open models, also unveiled its latest Qwen2.5-Max model, trained using methods similar to those employed for DeepSeek-V3. Alibaba launched a web service allowing users to experience its models at no cost.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized what it sees as an overextension of the concept of national security and urged against politicizing trade, economics, and technology. “We will continue to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of our companies on the global stage,” Guo Jiakun stated.
