[2][3] On 27 January 2025, DeepSeek limited its new user registration to phone numbers from mainland China, email addresses, or Google account logins, after a "large-scale" cyberattack disrupted the proper functioning of its servers.

[4][5] DeepSeek can answer questions, solves logic problems, and writes computer programs on par with other chatbots on the market, according to benchmark tests used by American AI companies.

[6] DeepSeek-V3 uses significantly fewer resources compared to its peers; for example, whereas the world's leading AI companies train their chatbots with supercomputers using as many as 16,000 graphics processing units (GPUs), if not more.

[10] Various publications and news media, such as The Hill and The Guardian, described the release of the R1 chatbot as a "Sputnik moment" for American AI[11][12][13], echoing Marc Andreessen's view.

[15][16] On 20 January 2025, China's Premier Li Qiang invited Wenfeng to his symposium with experts and asked him to provide opinions and suggestions on a draft for comments of the annual 2024 government work report.

[18] Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Altman - whose companies are involved in the United States government-backed "Stargate Project" to develop American AI infrastructure - both called DeepSeek "super impressive".

[35] DeepSeek's compliance with Chinese government censorship policies and its data collection practices have raised concerns over privacy and information control in the model, prompting regulatory scrutiny in multiple countries.Some sources have observed that the official application programming interface (API) version of R1, which runs from servers located in China, uses censorship mechanisms for topics that are considered politically sensitive for the government of China.

For example, the model refuses to answer questions about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, persecution of Uyghurs, comparisons between Xi Jinping and Winnie the Pooh, and human rights in China.

[39] If the "Core Socialist Values" defined by the Chinese Internet regulatory authorities are touched upon, or the political status of Taiwan is raised, discussions are terminated.

When tested by NBC News, DeepSeek's R1 described Taiwan as "an inalienable part of China's territory," and stated[41]: "We firmly oppose any form of 'Taiwan independence' separatist activities and are committed to achieving the complete reunification of the motherland through peaceful means."