DeepSeek, China’s breakout AI developer that stunned the world earlier this year, has resurfaced after months of silence, and one of its senior researchers has delivered a stark warning about the technology’s long-term consequences.
Speaking at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang, DeepSeek researcher Chen Deli said he is “pessimistic” about AI’s impact on society, warning that within the next 5 to 10 years, artificial intelligence could become capable enough to take over large portions of human work.
“In the short term, AI will be a great aid to humans,” Chen said. “But in the next 10 to 20 years, it could take over the rest of human jobs. Society could face a massive challenge, and at that point, technology companies must act as defenders.” He added that while he remains “extremely positive about the technology,” he views its societal consequences “negatively.”
Chen shared the stage with leaders from five other prominent Chinese AI companies — Unitree, BrainCo, and others collectively dubbed the nation’s “six little dragons” of AI. His remarks stood out for their blunt tone, contrasting with the optimism often voiced by AI firms at such events.
DeepSeek rose to global prominence in January after unveiling a low-cost AI model that outperformed several leading US counterparts. Since then, the company has largely avoided public appearances, aside from founder and CEO Liang Wenfeng’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in February. Despite its low profile, DeepSeek has become a key symbol of China’s push for technological self-reliance amid escalating tensions with the United States.
While DeepSeek hasn’t launched a major model since its early-year success, it released an experimental V3 version in September, said to be more efficient and better at handling long-form text. The company has also played a pivotal role in supporting China’s domestic AI ecosystem, optimising its models to run on Chinese-made chips from Huawei and Cambricon, both central to the country’s semiconductor ambitions.
Chen’s warning underscores a growing divide within the AI community: between the drive to innovate and the responsibility to anticipate the fallout. As automation accelerates and AI systems become more autonomous, even leading researchers at the forefront of development are starting to question whether humanity is ready for what’s coming.
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