China reportedly using DeepSeek AI model to support its military – UK Times

The Chinese Army has reportedly started using DeepSeek’s open-source artificial intelligence (AI) for non-combat support functions in what appears to be an experiment before expanding to high-risk areas.

DeepSeek, which paved the way for China to establish its dominance in the global AI ecosystem, is being used in hospitals run by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

The AI’s open-source large language models are also deployed in the People’s Armed Police and national defence mobilisation organs, according to local reports.

The general hospital of the Chinese military’s Central Theatre Command said it had authorised “embedded deployment” of DeepSeek’s AI model R1-70B LLM to provide treatment plan suggestions to support doctors, adding that all data was stored and processed on local servers.

Similarly, hospitals across China, including the military general hospital in Beijing, have incorporated DeepSeek within its electronic medical record (EMR) system for inpatients for diagnostic and treatment support, according to state media Global Times.

The use of DeepSeek’s models in settings like hospitals and soldier training programmes offers the military a “controlled environment for experimentation”, Sam Bresnick, a research fellow at Georgetown University’s Centre for Security and Emerging Technology, told Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

Deploying the AI models in non-combat roles, provides the PLA with an opportunity to address the technical and operational challenges before expanding into more sensitive, high-risk areas, he told the outlet. He said “the emergence of an advanced model like DeepSeek’s R1 might help” the PLA in using AI for military decision-making.

DeepSeek’s R1 model surpasses its rivals in several key metrics, outperforming OpenAI’s ChatGPT – despite being built at a fraction of the cost.

The perceived better performance of DeepSeek’s models has led US tech companies to lose $1 trillion in valuation, amid fears that Chinese AI could overtake those in Silicon Valley.

According to Chongqing Landship Information Technology, an autonomous driving solution provider, DeepSeek’s AI has a massive potential to be used in the military for actions that range from controlling unmanned vehicles to giving commands.

“In military strategic planning, DeepSeek can conduct in-depth analysis of massive intelligence information and provide military commanders with accurate decision-making support,” it said in a white paper, according to Asia Times.

It added that the AI models can quickly identify key military targets from satellite images and estimate their sizes and numbers. Last month, the group said it deployed DeepSeek in a self-driving military vehicle called Xingji P60, which was displayed at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi.

Besides the military, a growing number of cities in China have reportedly integrated DeepSeek’s AI mode into government services to streamline repetitive tasks. Yuan Jiajun, the Communist Party chief of Chongqing in southwestern China, said his administration will deploy “AI+” citywide.

Lawmakers from Shanghai and Guangdong aim to identify areas in their constituencies that could excel in AI, Bloomberg reported. The local administrations in Beijing and Shenzhen have set funds to nurture AI and robotics development.

DeepSeek was created in 2023, in the wake of excitement over other AI tools from companies such as ChatGPT. At that point, China was widely thought to be trailing behind US research and development of artificial intelligence.

Since its founding, however, DeepSeek has released a range of models that have helped increase confidence in the work coming from China. The startup has said that its more advanced models are on a par with those from OpenAI and Meta, while also being dramatically cheaper to use.

US president Donald Trump has praised the AI breakthrough as a “wake-up call” for American tech firms that ultimately “could be good” for the US.

AI models from ChatGPT to DeepSeek require advanced chips to power their training. The Biden administration has since 2021 widened the scope of bans designed to stop these chips from being exported to China and used to train Chinese firms’ AI models.

However, DeepSeek researchers claim that the DeepSeek-V3 used Nvidia’s H800 chips for training, spending less than $6m.

Although this detail has since been disputed, the claim that the chips used were less powerful than the most advanced Nvidia products Washington has sought to keep out of China, as well as the relatively cheap training costs, has prompted US tech executives to question the effectiveness of tech export controls.