A report by East Asia Forum highlighted concerns over Chinese AI models like DeepSeek, citing censorship and state controls on information as major limitations. DeepSeek’s R1 model gained attention for strong coding and maths performance but reportedly avoided politically sensitive topics. The article said such restrictions have affected global trust and adoption of Chinese AI systems.

New Delhi, Aug 5: Chinese AI models like DeepSeek have a serious limitation due to the censorship on information in the authoritarian state and are distrusted by many governments and users worldwide even though they are cheap and capable, according to an article published by East Asia Forum.

When DeepSeek’s 'R1' model arrived in January 2025, it was seen as China’s big leap in artificial intelligence (AI). While 'R1' outperformed its Western competitors in Maths and coding, it also refused or deflected roughly 85 per cent of prompts concerning politically sensitive topics in China. This distinction lies at the heart of China’s bid to shape the global technological order, the article states.

The Chinese government considers the free flow of information as a political liability. The 2023 Interim Measures for the Management of Generative AI Services illustrated this priority by requiring any public-facing model to uphold ‘core socialist values’ and pass a state security review, the article observes.

China excels in technological products such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels and leads the world in investment in robotics. However, in contrast, generative AI is an inherently social technology. Its value lies in open-ended language.