Experts warn against African reliance on cheaper AI technology from China

Chinese startup DeepSeek sparked chaos on artificial intelligence markets at the start of the year, with the claim that their AI model was developed at a fraction of the cost of US rivals.

DeepSeek said its open-source large language 'R1' model could be trained for $6 million, compared to the $100 million OpenAI invested in producing ChatGPT-4.

The uptake of DeepSeek is growing on the African continent where some experts are saying the system is a threat to users’ data privacy and 'yet another technological innovation that lies outside of national control for African countries'.

Business specialist Rutendo Hwindingwi (Tribe Africa Advisory) says a note of caution is justified - "We know China has its advantages in terms of building to scale, but obviously it's your responsibility as a government or an industry to make sure you get the quality that's in line with that."

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DeepSeek are investing significantly in the African market where there's always been opportunity to scale and grow from a technology perspective, says Hwindingwi. "While they're not the only ones, it seems they're taking extra care to capitalise on this opportunity."

The result is that not only has China displaced Western companies for providing core telecoms infrastructure in Africa, writes one analyst, but it appears Chinese companies have also displaced Western AI offerings from the continent as well.

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