Local governments in the Greater Bay Area cities of Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Dongguan are spearheading the incorporation of Chinese-made artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot DeepSeek into their public services
According to a recent social media post made by Guangzhou’s government, the city will use the technology’s R1 and V3 A1 models to explain policies to the public, handle hotlines, take requests, improve internal workflows and manage city services.
Citing a report in Nanfang Daily, the South China Morning Post said that senior officials in Zhuhai had “watched reports on DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng” at a recent retreat. This reflected the “expectations and confidence” of Macao’s nearest neighbour in DeepSeek, which was released to the public on 20 January.
[See more: Experts push for responsible development of ‘AI consciousness’]
In Shenzhen’s Fujian district, meanwhile, 70 DeepSeek-powered “AI public servants” have been deployed to assist in administrative governance, the Global Times reported. Telecom expert Xiang Ligang told the Times that “AI outperforms humans in both efficiency and accuracy, making it a significant asset in handling government affairs.”
DeepSeek has disrupted the global tech industry by proving that it can perform on par with leading models in the US – like OpenAI’s highly successful ChatGPT – for a fraction of the cost. A week after its release, it became the top-rated free application available on Apple’s App Store in the US.
However, some countries have imposed restrictions on the chatbot, citing privacy and national security concerns, the BBC reports. South Korea banned new downloads of DeepSeek’s app on Saturday, until tweaks are made to ensure it complies with the country’s personal data protection laws. Australia, meanwhile, has banned DeepSeek from all government devices.
