China's DeepSeek has unveiled a groundbreaking open-source model, underscoring how innovation can outstrip raw computing power in the realm of advanced technology, said a professor from Tsinghua University.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Tsinghua University Professor Xue Lan, director of the Institute for AI International Governance, predicted that the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is poised to gain even more momentum with the emergence of industry leaders like Elon Musk's xAI, which is pioneering innovations like Grok 3.
He pointed to DeepSeek's groundbreaking achievement, which was made possible by leveraging open-source efficiency rather than relying on excessive computing power, a development that holds great promise for future global collaboration.
"I think people indeed see the potential of a breakthrough and everybody's joining, and I think that would help to accelerate the development of AI. But at the same time, I think the one thing that we do have to worry about is the safety issue. The prevailing view is that the existing law is still in fact. So, you have more compute and we have more data and large models and then you will get sort of better results. The emergence of the DeepSeek really shows another way. That is, you know you don't have to use that so much of computing power to be able to get a model that's performing more or less the same. So that really showed an alternative way of AI development process," Xue said.
Despite U.S. chip restrictions, Xue said these challenges have driven Chinese companies to innovate, revealing the counterproductive nature of such tech restrictions.
"I think we do have to recognize that actually open source has played a very huge role in this accelerated AI development. I think that really allowed people to learn from each other and to push for the development of new models and new ideas, new algorithm and so on. But I think that ecosystem is critically important for this wave of AI development," he said.
"DeepSeek is one example, right? Without U.S. restrictions on the chip exports, probably the Chinese company won't pay much attention on the efficiency. You know, the use of compute, will not pay much attention on how to use this new algorithm to try to improve the computing method. So, I think the restrictions actually forces China to innovate. So, indeed, all these embargoes, restrictions are counterproductive," he continued.
DeepSeek shows how innovation can outpace raw computing power: expert
China will take more effective measures to improve people's wellbeing, especially in education, healthcare, and social security, an official said Thursday in Beijing at a press conference on the interpretation of this year's government work report, which was submitted to the national legislature for deliberation earlier in the day.
Shen Danyang, head of the government work report drafting team and director of the State Council Research Office, said centering on enhancing educational equity and quality, the report made arrangements for education at all educational stages and of all types.
"Regarding preschool education, the policy of free education in the year prior to entering primary school will continue to be implemented this year, which is commonly referred to as free admission to the senior class of kindergartens. So, how can the income reduction of kindergartens be addressed? Subsidies will be provided by both the central and local governments, with the central government taking the lion's share. This year, the funds allocated to support the development of preschool education will increase significantly by 37.8 percent to ensure the implementation of the beneficial policy," he said.
Regarding senior high school education, Shen said the report stated that the supply of regular senior high school places will be increased,
Specifically, for areas with a continuous net inflow of population, a number of regular high schools will be planned and constructed on an annual basis. For regions with a temporary shortage of school places, priority will be given to the renovation and expansion of existing teaching buildings, student dormitories and canteens, he said.
Shen said the report put forward many supportive measures in healthcare.
"For instance, it urged efforts to strengthen coordination in drug use at the grassroots level, which mean improving the list of essential drugs, and optimizing the channels for drug supply and drug use coordination between upper- and lower-level medical and health institutions to make it more convenient for the public to use drugs at their doorstep. Besides, the report has made arrangements for supporting the development of innovative drugs for the third consecutive year. This year, China will strengthen the coordination of supportive policies in an all-round way, further address issues such as the barriers facing innovative drugs entering hospitals, and better meet the diverse medical and medication needs of the people," he said.
In terms of social security, Shen said the report proposed to continue raising the minimum standard of basic pensions for urban and rural residents -- a policy will benefit over 180 million elderly people.
"The central government will allocate 1.25 trillion yuan (about 181.25 billion U.S. dollars) in subsidy funds to ensure the timely and full payment of pensions. In response to the insufficient protection of the rights and interests of people engaging in new occupations, the report proposed to steadily and orderly expand the scale of the pilot program for occupational injury insurance. This year, the policy will cover 31 provincial-level regions across the country and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Meanwhile, enterprises specializing in travel, instant delivery and intra-city freight delivery will be included in the pilot program, which will ensure the safety of more laborers, such as food delivery workers and online car-hailing drivers," he said.
China to improve people's wellbeing in education, healthcare, social security: official
