Fu cong photo:CCTV

TheMKsports global sensation and anxiety sparked by Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek demonstrates that technological containment and restrictions do not work. This is a lesson the whole world, especially the US, should learn, said Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), in response to a question regarding DeepSeek and AI cooperation between China and the US, according to a report by the state broadcaster China Central Television.

"Never underestimate the ingenuity of Chinese scientists and engineers," Fu said at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday. "From Huawei to TikTok, and now to DeepSeek - how many more does the US want to impose a ban [on]?"

"We don't need more bans," Fu pointed out, noting that China and the US, as two leading nations in AI, cannot afford not to cooperate. "Only through joint efforts can we bridge the digital and intelligence divide, particularly ensuring that the Global South benefits equally in AI development," he stressed.

Following the recent wide global adoption of DeepSeek, certain US politicians have ramped up efforts targeting Chinese AI industries to maintain its global tech hegemonic position. 

In recent days, US Senator Josh Hawley proposed a bill that would prohibit US companies from investing in any Chinese entity that conducts AI research or development or is involved in the production of software or hardware that incorporates AI-related research and development, the South China Morning Post reported.

In late January, NASA banned the use of DeepSeek AI technology by employees and blocked access to the platform from its systems, citing "national security and privacy concerns," CNBC reported. The US Navy also instructed its members to avoid using DeepSeek in January, due to "potential security and ethical concerns associated with the model's origin and usage," the report noted.

In addition to bans and defamations, the Chinese AI start-up has been subjected to a series of sophisticated and large-scale cyberattacks over the past month, according to XLab, a Chinese cybersecurity firm, with most of the monitored attack source IPs located in the US, Singapore, Netherlands, Germany and domestically.

In response, industries insiders have called on Washington to view the rise of China-developed AI technology fairly. They believe that DeepSeek offers the latest example of the results of Chinese innovation that are at the forefront of the global tech race, while showing that Western restrictions will not succeed in containing China's technological rise.

Zhou Hongyi, founder and chairman of 360 Security Technology, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the overreaction from the US side lays bare that Washington is afraid that DeepSeek's new AI development model, which centers on open-source sharing, could undermine and challenge the infrastructure of the US in the field of AI, which it touts as a dominant global force. 

DeepSeek fully embodies the spirit of open-source and remains committed to technology sharing, which benefits developers worldwide, according to Zhou. 

"This stands in stark contrast to US companies like OpenAI that have moved toward closed-source models. DeepSeek could potentially reshape the global AI industry landscape and build an AI ecosystem based on DeepSeek," Zhou said, stressing that the trend is consequential for ushering in a new phase of AI development toward global inclusivity and equality.

A number of US tech giants including Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon have already rushed to adopt the latest AI reasoning model from DeepSeek, according to another report by the South China Morning Post.