Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek made its first major public appearance in nearly a year — and delivered a sobering message about the future of automation. Speaking Thursday at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, senior researcher Chen Deli said he is enthusiastic about AI technology but pessimistic about its societal consequences.
Chen appeared onstage alongside the chief executives of Unitree, BrainCo, and three other firms — a cohort dubbed China’s “six little dragons” of AI. When asked about DeepSeek’s rapid rise and its open-source approach, he said AI will bring short-term productivity benefits but warned of looming displacement.
“In the next 5–10 years, AI could take over some of the work humans perform,” Chen said. “In the next 10–20 years, AI could take over the rest…and society could face a massive challenge. At that time, tech companies need to take the role of ‘defender’.”
“I’m extremely positive about the technology but I view the impact it could have on society negatively,” he added.
DeepSeek became a global sensation in January after releasing a low-cost model that outperformed leading U.S. systems — a breakthrough that Chinese state media has highlighted as a symbol of technological resilience amid intensifying tensions with Washington. Since then, the company has remained unusually quiet, skipping several major conferences. Its only other public representation this year was when CEO Liang Wenfeng met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in February.
While the company hasn’t launched a major new model since its viral debut, DeepSeek has continued to influence China’s AI and semiconductor strategy. In August, the firm announced an upgraded model optimized for Chinese-made chips, triggering a spike in domestic semiconductor stocks. Its models are now supported by local chipmakers including Cambricon and Huawei, as Beijing pushes for a homegrown AI ecosystem.
DeepSeek’s V3 “experimental” model, unveiled in September, was billed as more efficient to train and capable of handling longer text sequences — but details remain limited.
As global AI competition intensifies, Chen’s comments suggest DeepSeek wants to position itself not only as a leader in innovation — but as a cautious voice urging the industry to prepare for the consequences.
