China’s DeepSeek AI chatbot doesn’t exactly have the best of reputations. It has exposed chat history and other sensitive data; the iOS app has been shown to have multiple security flaws; is under investigation in both the US and Europe; and ARM’s CEO believes it will end up being banned in the US.
But none of this has stopped Apple CEO Tim Cook describing it as “excellent” during a visit to Beijing for the China Development Forum …
China’s DeepSeek
DeepSeek is an AI chatbot developed in China which quickly climbed to the #1 slot in Apple’s App Store.
China posted benchmarks indicating that its performance was comparable to the world’s best existing models. Experts quickly verified the claims, expressing shock that China was able to achieve this at a fraction of the development cost of US models, and running locally on very modestly-specced PCs – though it was later suggested the cost differential was exaggerated.
Privacy concerns quickly led to investigations being opened in both the US and Europe.
US officials are looking at the national security implications of the Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said [while] Italy’s data protection authority said it was seeking answers from DeepSeek on its use of personal data.
The additional issues described above then followed.
Tim Cook in China
Cook is visiting the country to participate in the China Development Forum, and has been sharing his visit in a series of Weibo posts.
“Hello, Beijing! I can’t think of a better way to kick off my time in China than a beautiful walk with Yang Tianzhen. Thanks AlexJ for capturing the view on your iPhone!”
“Henry Lau may be a one-man band, but with iPhone 16 Pro Max as his companion, he turns every stage into a full-blown concert. Thank you for sharing your incredible talent with us!”
“It is amazing to see iPad and Mac help rural teachers deliver engaging lessons to their students. We’re proudly expanding our work with CDRF because we know education can create opportunities for rural communities in China.”
“Physics class has come a long way! Excited to see educators push the boundaries of learning with Apple Vision Pro!”
“We’re proud to announce a new clean energy fund in China! Two thirds of our supply chain here is already running on renewable energy and this will help further our goal of running on 100% renewable energy by 2030.”
“Thanks Chun Xiao for sharing how you captured the traditional art of the Kun Opera through the modern lens of iPhone 16 Pro!”
Cook calls DeepSeek ‘excellent’
The South China Morning Post reports that he called DeepSeek “excellent” when speaking to state media.
Cook recommended the artificial intelligence models of Chinese start-up DeepSeek ahead of a developer conference in Shanghai, as the US tech giant awaits final approval to bring Apple Intelligence to iPhones on the mainland.
Speaking on the sidelines of the China Development Forum in Beijing, a state-organised forum to woo global investors, the executive told the official China News Service that DeepSeek’s models were “excellent”, the outlet reported on Sunday. Cook did not elaborate.
9to5Mac’s Take
Apple’s dependence on China as its primary manufacturing center, as well as for a very large slice of its sales, means that Cook is frequently forced to make diplomatic remarks about the country, no matter how much its policies and actions may conflict with the iPhone maker’s values.
One of the major compromises Apple had to make was to partner with a local company for the launch of Apple Intelligence in China, with all of the political censorship that will involve. The government had made it crystal clear that this was not optional.
It seems likely Cook was asked to comment on DeepSeek, and gave the shortest possible diplomatic answer.
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