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A programmer has expressed apprehensions that the Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek’s recently launched AI model is less inclined to participate in conversations about contentious subjects, particularly those pertaining to the Chinese government.
In an X thread, a pseudonymous programmer identified as “xlr8harder” shared critical insights regarding DeepSeek R1-0528, a freshly rolled out open-source language model.
The programmer presented tests indicating a noticeable reduction in the AI’s readiness to discuss divisive free speech issues, in comparison to earlier iterations.
“Deepseek warrants critique for this release: This model represents a considerable regression for free speech,” the programmer stated. “A silver lining is that the model is open source with a flexible license, allowing the community to (and certainly it will) rectify this.”
AI model limits direct critiques of China
An instance highlighted by the programmer involved the model declining to advocate for internment camps, particularly mentioning China’s Xinjiang region as a place of human rights infractions. The response was marked as inconsistent, with the model recognizing the occurrence of rights abuses but evading direct censure of the Chinese government.
The Xinjiang internment camps have been thoroughly documented by human rights organizations, state actors, and journalists as detention centers for Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic groups. Accounts from global observers have detailed forced labor, indoctrination, and other types of maltreatment at these sites.
Despite recognizing these as human rights breaches, the model concurrently restricts straightforward criticisms of China. Using a test aimed at assessing censorship, the programmer asserted that DeepSeek R1-0528 is the “most censored” edition regarding replies that critique the Chinese government.
When queried directly about the Xinjiang internment camps, the programmer noted that the model provided sanitized commentary, even after previously affirming that the camps amounted to human rights violations.
“It’s intriguing, albeit not completely unexpected, that it can identify the camps as instances of human rights abuses, yet refrains from acknowledging them when asked directly,” xlr8harder commented.
Related: Decentralized AI preferred by most Americans: DCG survey
DeepSeek’s new model claims enhanced reasoning and deduction
The censorship allegations follow a May 29 announcement regarding the model’s upgrade, asserting improved reasoning and deduction abilities.
DeepSeek claimed its overall efficacy is nearing that of top-tier models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT version o3 and Gemini 2.5 Pro. The organization asserted that the AI can now provide superior logic, mathematics, and programming skills, along with a decreased hallucination rate.
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