UN official hails China's AI model DeepSeek for advancing technological efficiency

A top United Nations official has lauded the open-source artificial intelligence (AI) model developed by Chinese start-up DeepSeek for its groundbreaking computational efficiency, while underlining the importance of the UN initiative of Global Digital Compact in using technologies to solve issues around the world.

In a studio interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Beijing, Tshilidzi Marwala, the UN under-secretary-general and rector of the UN University, shared his view on DeepSeek and the influence it will have on the global AI ecosystem.

DeepSeek's new model, DeepSeek-R1, has attracted significant global attention since it was released in January, with many hailing how its advanced reasoning capabilities are on par with other leading AI systems such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, but at a fraction of the development cost.

"DeepSeek obviously is cheap, which basically means that it seems that it has been able to crack the computational efficiency dilemma that we seem to have forgotten. I personally actually work in the area of computational efficiency, as we run these large-scale Monte Carlo simulations (a model used to predict the probability of a variety of outcomes) to be able to build better AI, I think DeepSeek reminds us that you can actually make those computationally expensive algorithms cheap without necessarily compromising on the accuracy of the algorithms themselves," Marwala said.

He then emphasized the global implications of DeepSeek's open-source nature, particularly for regions lacking sufficient expertise in AI technology.

"How do we bring the worlds that do not have enough trained people to be able to understand this technology so that they can be able to come and learn about the development of DeepSeek and go out to their countries and develop their own versions of DeepSeek that is able to deal with local issues. So, the issue of the [UN] Global Digital Compact (a comprehensive framework for global governance of digital technology and AI) is very, very important. The issue of cross cultural and international collaboration are very, very important," said Marwala.

UN official hails China's AI model DeepSeek for advancing technological efficiency

The European Commission's proposal to use frozen Russian assets as collateral to finance Ukraine "cannot deprive Russia of ownership of these assets", European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday.

Lagarde stated that this proposal is the closest one so far to complying with international law. She added that to address investor concerns, the European Union (EU) needs to explain that it is not "trying to seize Russian sovereign assets for its own benefit".

Lagarde has long expressed concerns about using frozen Russian assets. She said the ECB is keen to ensure that any outcome respects international law, otherwise the global reputation of the euro could be damaged.

In response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday local time that Russia has no plans or intention to go to war with Europe, but Russia will respond to any deployment of European military forces in Ukraine as well as to attempts to seize Russian assets in Europe.

Following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Western countries froze approximately 300 billion U.S. dollars in Russian overseas assets. Among these, the EU froze about 200 billion euros (about 232 billion U.S. dollars) worth of assets belonging to the Russian central bank.

Approximately 90 percent of the frozen Russian assets within the EU are held by Euroclear Bank, based in Brussels, Belgium. Russia has repeatedly emphasized that, under international law, any seizure of its assets by Western governments constitutes "theft".

In September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed establishing a "reparation loan" mechanism, intending to use frozen Russian assets as collateral to provide Ukraine with a total loan of about 140 billion euros (163 billion U.S. dollars).

However, Belgium and the ECB believe this plan carries significant risks in terms of international law and the financial stability of the eurozone.

ECB chief urges caution in using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine