Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek founder. Credit: Shutterstock, Stock all
China’s DeepSeek, a rising AI startup, is reportedly operating under strict government surveillance.
Following its January launch of the R1 model, DeepSeek has become a national priority, with its employees facing travel restrictions and the government screening potential investors, according to The Information.
DeepSeek restricts employee travel
Reports indicate that DeepSeek’s parent company, High-Flyer, is holding onto employees’ passports, preventing them from travelling abroad freely. The Information suggests this is part of a broader directive from Beijing, which advises AI researchers to avoid traveling to the U.S. over concerns about potential trade secret leaks.
Additionally, The Economic Times, citing Reuters, reports that the Zhejiang provincial government is screening potential investors before they can attend DeepSeek’s company meetings. This level of oversight underscores China’s efforts to protect its AI assets amid heightened international competition.
While DeepSeek’s open reasoning model, R1, has positioned the company as a key AI player, it has chosen to focus on research rather than monetisation. According to The Financial Times, despite the company recently breaking even, its billionaire founder has opted against aggressively pursuing commercialisation, unlike its Silicon Valley counterparts.
Beyond AI research, DeepSeek has disrupted China’s financial industry. Its parent firm, High-Flyer, has integrated AI into asset management, influencing China’s $10 trillion (€9.2 trillion) fund market.
‘High-Flyer not only deployed AI in its multi-billion-dollar portfolio, it also built China’s most notable AI startup, DeepSeek,’ Reuters reports. The same report highlights how DeepSeek’s success has challenged Western AI dominance, prompting Chinese financial institutions to integrate AI-driven models into their trading workflows.
China’s AI strategy amid U.S. trade restrictions
The tightened control over DeepSeek aligns with China’s broader AI strategy as the country faces increased U.S. trade restrictions.
View all technology news.
