China has significantly narrowed its AI development gap with the United States, with some areas now only trailing by three months, according to Lee Kai-fu, founder of (link unavailable) This remarkable progress is largely attributed to innovative companies like DeepSeek, which have optimized chip usage and algorithm application, allowing them to catch up with their US counterparts.
DeepSeek's breakthrough was evident when it launched an AI reasoning model in January, trained on less advanced chips and at a lower development cost than its Western rivals. This achievement challenged the notion that US sanctions were hindering China's AI progress. Lee Kai-fu noted that while China was previously six to nine months behind, it has now closed the gap to just three months in some core technologies and is even ahead in specific areas.
The US sanctions have had a double-edged effect, creating short-term challenges for Chinese firms but also driving innovation and creativity. Chinese companies have developed novel algorithms, and DeepSeek's models can even show users their reasoning process before delivering answers. This capability was first developed by OpenAI but not released to users, demonstrating China's rapid progress in AI development.
