There was a worldwide perception that China was far behind America and other western countries in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). But Mr Hassabis, the head of Google’s AI lab DeepMind, has challenged this idea. In a recent podcast interview, he said that China has now progressed more than we thought. According to him, the gap between China and America in the AI race is now only a few months.
Hassabis said that about a year ago, Chinese lab DeepSeek introduced a model that created a stir in the global market. It is noteworthy that China developed this model on a low budget and using old technology chips, yet its performance was on par with American models. Apart from this, Chinese companies like Alibaba, Moonshot and Zipu are also continuously introducing new technologies.
However, Hassabis believes that China has proven that it can compete quickly, but the real challenge is to develop something new. According to him, it is not clear whether Chinese companies have been able to make any significant scientific progress in AI.
He gave the example that ‘Transformer’ developed by Google in 2017 was a significant change in the world of AI, on which big models like ChatGPT and Gemini are based today. Now the question is whether China will be able to present such a new idea.
Some analysts believe that in the long run, the gap between the US and China’s AI models may increase due to the shortage of chips. According to Richard Clode, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson, America’s AI infrastructure will grow rapidly in the future. He says that Chinese companies are understanding this challenge. Alibaba experts believe that the chances of overtaking the US in the next 3 to 5 years are only 20 percent, as the US has a strong computer infrastructure.
Hassabis believes that the biggest obstacle for China is not technology, but differences in thinking. He compared DeepMind to “modern Bell Labs”, where new scientific experiments are promoted while enhancing existing technology. According to him, it is easy to copy something, but it is much more difficult to invent something new. This is the next big challenge.
DeepMind founder Hassabis is considered one of the most influential personalities in the world of AI. His company has been instrumental in the success of Google’s AI products, especially Gemini. Launched in November, Gemini 3 has received positive response from the market and users.
