Competition in AI Intensifies

The release of DeepSeek AI from China received wide attention from the media, the public, and many policymakers this week. President Trump weighed in, saying, “The release of DeepSeek AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser focused on competing.” Many lawmakers also took note of the development, which could further spur Congress to advance legislation that supports U.S. AI innovation.

To support customers and further AI innovation, Microsoft made DeepSeek’s R1 AI model available on two of its key platforms, Azure AI Foundry and GitHub. This allows customers to integrate this AI model into their own applications. Asha Sharma, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of AI platform, noted that, “DeepSeek R1 has undergone rigorous red teaming and safety evaluations, including automated assessments of model behavior and extensive security reviews to mitigate potential risks.”

Thank you for reading. Please check out additional tech policy news and a featured podcast below.

This Week in Washington 

Article Summary

Featured Podcast 

  • TED Tech
    In a recent episode of TED Tech, Ramin Hasani, co-founder and CEO of Liquid AI, said that his “wildest dream is to design artificial intelligence that is our friend.” Hasani shares how liquid neural networks, a new and more flexible AI technology inspired by physics and living brains, can transform the way we solve complex problems. So, what if AI could think and adapt like a real brain? Tune in and find out. (“How a worm could save humanity from bad AI | Ramin Hasani” – January 24, 2025)