On January 20, the Chinese company DeepSeek released a new AI large language model, called DeepSeek-R1. The company was only founded a little over a year earlier, and yet this model’s capability was largely similar to that of leading models produced by Western companies like OpenAI.
Not surprisingly, these facts triggered a wave of public discussion in the United States about the pace of China’s AI development. What is the state of the US-China competition for superior artificial intelligence? What can we learn from instances like the release of DeepSeek’s model? And what are the other trends and inflection points that offer a glimpse into the progress China is making? And perhaps most importantly, given that both China and the United States see a role for military use of AI, how is the technological race likely to impact the broader strategic competition between Washington and Beijing.
This episode of the MWI Podcast tackles those questions and more. In it, John Amble is joined by Bill Hannas, lead analyst at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), and Sam Bresnick, a research fellow at CSET.
The MWI Podcast is produced through an endowment generously funded by the West Point Class of 1974. You can listen to this episode of the podcast below, and if you aren’t already subscribed, be sure to find it on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app so you don’t miss an episode. While you’re there, please take just a moment to leave the podcast a rating or give it a review!
Image credit: Matheus Bertelli