01/30/2025

You Can Watch AI Navigate Censorship in Real Time on DeepSeek

In many cases, DeepSeek seems trained to censor itself

The Chinese artificial intelligence assistant from DeepSeek is holding its own against all the major players in the field, having dethroned ChatGPT to become No. 1 in the Apple App Store this week.

In hands-on tests Tuesday, NBC News found that DeepSeek presents a friendly, helpful demeanor and is capable of highly sophisticated reasoning — until it flounders when it faces a subject it appears unable to talk about freely.

The tests found that in many cases, DeepSeek seems trained to censor itself (and, at times, demonstrate specific political leanings) about topics deemed sensitive in China. Its answers tend to align with what is typically permitted under the country’s extensive online content regulation system.

Please select this link to read the complete article from NBC News.