Chinese AI Chatbots Compete with U.S. Models While Avoiding Sensitive Topics
Chinese AI chatbots are demonstrating increasing competitiveness with leading U.S. models like Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's ChatGPT, often offering lower usage costs. These open-source Chinese models have gained users in the U.S. and other countries. However, a notable characteristic of these Chinese AI systems is their silence on topics deemed sensitive by Beijing. For instance, when asked about the Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 4, 1989, DeepSeek responds with "I'm not able to help with that," while it can provide details on the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. This behavior is consistent with China's cybersecurity regulator's processes for approving new generative AI services, particularly those that could influence public opinion. The Chinese government views integrating AI across industries as a significant part of its economic development plans for the next five years.