According to a commentary in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the rapid rise of Deepseek is not only unique for its open-source strategy but also poses an unprecedented challenge to Europe and the United States. The piece states that the Chinese government is likely the main user of Deepseek's large language model (LLM), and the stringent regulations imposed on tech giants like Tencent and Alibaba reflect Beijing's worry over losing data control and monopolistic power.

While the state aims to leverage private sector innovations for public service and modernization of its surveillance systems, Deepseek's open-source philosophy has dramatically transformed this dynamic. Local governments in China are adopting AI at an unprecedented pace. Reports indicate that within a month of Deepseek-R1's release, over a dozen provincial governments announced its use for government services.

Shenzhen stands out as the innovation hub, with around seventy 'digital employees' based on Deepseek AI deployed by its local government to handle citizen inquiries and draft official documents. This trend is observed in other major cities like Guangzhou and Nanjing, highlighting a digital leap. The open-source AI model is indeed appealing to local governments, allowing them to conduct security checks on the code and retrain it with local data.

As AI is increasingly integrated into Chinese governance, Deepseek's intersection with politics reaches levels previously unattainable by other private enterprises. The commentary suggests that the day when AI plays a key role in public policy and social services may come sooner than expected, as a robust 'open-source model' takes shape in China, competing with U.S. platform-based AI models.