Reference News Network, February 3 report: The U.S. "Washington Post" website published an article on January 30 with the title "DeepSeek is a Warning, China is Preparing the Next Breakthrough," written by Scott Sing and Pavlo Zvenyihorodsky, researchers at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the United States. The article is translated as follows:

A year ago, the Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek shocked the Western world by releasing a large language model that could compete with other publicly available cutting-edge models. Many policymakers and analysts had previously believed that China's AI laboratories were far behind their American counterparts, but DeepSeek proved that the gap between China and the forefront of technology was only a few months.

Yet, this should not have been so shocking. In 2024, Chinese laboratories made systematic progress on key benchmark tests, thanks to national policies aimed at building a strong AI industry over many years. Western observers simply did not pay enough attention to China's public statements and actions.

Now, the same pattern is repeating itself. China is clearly and purposefully advancing the development of embodied intelligence, these robotic and drone hardware systems that can use artificial intelligence to understand their environment, make autonomous decisions, and learn from physical interactions, rather than simply following pre-set instructions. Although commercialization or widespread application has not yet been achieved, China's efforts in embodied intelligence may create an early advantage, which could eventually translate into significant economic and geopolitical advantages.

Developing robot technologies driven by artificial intelligence is one of the key focuses of China's top-level science and technology policy. Several important policy documents released last year reflected this. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China included embodied intelligence in its proposal for the "14th Five-Year Plan" and positioned it as a new growth point.

Beijing hopes to boost productivity and alleviate potential labor shortages by integrating embodied intelligence into core industries. A new phenomenon is the deployment of humanoid robot teams on production lines, capable of handling complex tasks around the clock.

In addition, China can leverage its existing manufacturing advantages to become a global leading center for the production of embodied intelligent systems. Unlike 5G networks or solar panels, embodied intelligence is expected to become a foundational technology for direct automation of physical tasks across multiple global fields, which may drive China to become a major global supplier of intelligent robots and autonomous platforms, thereby giving it significant geopolitical economic influence.

Some influential government researchers believe that embodied intelligence is crucial to China's long-term goal of achieving general artificial intelligence, which allows AI systems to learn through sustained interaction with the physical environment, rather than being limited to the large volumes of text data currently used for training AI.

Under Beijing's guidance, local governments are allocating resources to support local embodied intelligence enterprises and opening data facilities for companies to train robots. Private companies are also pushing the development of embodied intelligence frontier technologies, with Chinese companies such as Zhiyuan Robotics, UBTech, and Unitree Technology already leading globally.

Certainly, China faces real challenges. Its access to advanced AI chips is limited, these chips are used to train embodied intelligence models, and high-end sensors depend on Western suppliers. Redundant research among provinces and companies also causes resource waste. But it is precisely because the outside world underestimated China's ability to overcome early obstacles that the shock brought by DeepSeek occurred.

In contrast, the United States has strategically neglected embodied intelligence. The focus of the U.S. remains on a few private companies with limited participation in a broader AI policy and research ecosystem. At least, the U.S. needs to acknowledge China's AI policy direction and the substantial progress it has made in achieving its goals. This requires a more in-depth analysis of China's AI capabilities and the dissemination of related awareness within the U.S. policy ecosystem.

From batteries, solar manufacturing to shipbuilding, the U.S. has repeatedly missed the opportunity to respond to China's industrial rise until it was too late. DeepSeek is a warning. If the U.S. fails to draw the right lessons, the next shock will not be a chatbot, but rather Chinese robots reshaping the global economy. (Translated by Zhang Sihao)

Original source: toutiao.com/article/7602579316911784491/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.