This month, universities across China have introduced artificial intelligence (AI) courses inspired by the AI breakthrough of Chinese startup DeepSeek, which has been hailed as a 'Sputnik moment' for China and received significant attention.
This initiative aligns with Chinese authorities' efforts to foster scientific and technological innovation in educational institutions, aiming to generate new growth opportunities for the world’s second-largest economy.
DeepSeek, a Hangzhou-based startup, has been showered with praise by Silicon Valley executives and U.S. tech company engineers alike, who say its models DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1 are on par with OpenAI and Meta's most advanced models.
Shenzhen University in southern Guangdong province said this week that it was launching an artificial intelligence course based on DeepSeek which would help students learn about key technologies and also on security, privacy, ethics, and other challenges it said.
It will "explore how to find a balance between technological innovation and ethical norms".
Zhejiang University in eastern China said it began holding special DeepSeek courses in February.
Shanghai's Jiao Tong University has deployed DeepSeek to upgrade AI learning tools for its courses, it said on its official Wechat account. The Renmin University of China has also put DeepSeek into application in "multiple fields, injecting new power for teaching and research, campus office", it said. In January, China unveiled its first national action plan to build a "strong education nation" by 2035, to create a 'high-quality education system' that ranks among the best in the world for both accessibility and quality.
Liang Wenfeng, founder of DeepSeek, participated in a rare meeting on Monday with President Xi Jinping and major figures from China’s technology sector, including representatives from Alibaba.
