Huawei Unveils Safer AI Model DeepSeek-R1-Safe
Chinese technology company Huawei has introduced a safety-focused version of the DeepSeek artificial intelligence model, claiming it is almost entirely effective in blocking politically sensitive discussions.
Focus on Security and Compliance
Chinese regulators require all domestic AI models to align with the country’s socialist values before public release. These rules ensure strict compliance with national speech regulations. Huawei announced on its WeChat account that it trained the model using 1,000 of its Ascend AI chips. The model, named DeepSeek-R1-Safe, is based on the open-source DeepSeek-R1 but adjusted for stronger safeguards.
Huawei partnered with Zhejiang University, which is also the alma mater of DeepSeek’s founder Liang Wenfeng. However, both DeepSeek and Liang were not directly involved in this project. DeepSeek has yet to comment on Huawei’s announcement.
Industry Adoption of DeepSeek
The release of DeepSeek’s advanced models, R1 and V3, surprised Silicon Valley and global investors, leading to a decline in Western AI stock values earlier this year. Since then, Chinese industries and organisations have actively modified and deployed DeepSeek models.
AI chatbots in China, such as Baidu’s Ernie Bot, already avoid questions on domestic politics or other sensitive subjects. Huawei’s new model continues this trend, focusing on reinforcing these restrictions.
Testing and Performance
Huawei stated that DeepSeek-R1-Safe achieved nearly 100% success in blocking harmful or politically sensitive content, as well as preventing incitement to illegal acts. However, its effectiveness fell to 40% in tests involving role-playing scenarios, encrypted codes, or disguised prompts.
Overall, the model scored an 83% success rate in comprehensive security testing. This performance was 8% to 15% higher than comparable AI models, such as Alibaba’s Qwen-235B and DeepSeek-R1-671B. Importantly, DeepSeek-R1-Safe demonstrated less than 1% performance loss compared to the original DeepSeek-R1, according to Huawei.
The announcement coincides with Huawei’s annual Connect conference in Shanghai, where the company also revealed new chip and computing power roadmaps.
with inputs from Reuters
