China’s DeepSeek AI doesn’t exactly have the best of reputations. It has exposed chat history and other sensitive data; the iOS app has been shown to have multiple security flaws; is under investigation in both the US and Europe; and ARM’s CEO believes it will end up being banned in the US. But none of this has stopped Apple CEO Tim Cook describing it as “excellent” during a visit to Beijing for the China Development Forum … DeepSeek is an AI chatbot developed in China which quickly climbed to the #1 slot in Apple’s App Store. China posted benchmarks indicating that its performance was comparable to the world’s best existing models. Experts quickly verified the claims, expressing shock that China was able to achieve this at a fraction of the development cost of US models, and running locally on very modestly-specced PCs – though it was later suggested the cost differential was exaggerated. Privacy concerns quickly led to investigations being opened in both the US and Europe. The additional issues described above then followed. Cook is visiting the country to participate in the China Development Forum, and has been sharing his visit in a series of Weibo posts. The South China Morning Post reports that he called DeepSeek ‘excellent’ when speaking to state media. Cook recommended the artificial intelligence models of Chinese start-up DeepSeek ahead of a developer conference in Shanghai, as the US tech giant awaits final approval to bring Apple Intelligence to iPhones on the mainland. Speaking on the sidelines of the China Development Forum in Beijing, a state-organised forum to woo global investors, the executive told the official China News Service that DeepSeek’s models were ‘excellent’, the outlet reported on Sunday. Cook did not elaborate. Apple’s dependence on China as its primary manufacturing center, as well as for a very large slice of its sales, means that Cook is frequently forced to make diplomatic remarks about the country, no matter how much its policies and actions may conflict with the iPhone maker’s values.

Tim Cook says China’s DeepSeek AI is ‘excellent’ during visit to country

Apple CEO Tim Cook praised DeepSeek AI during his visit to the China Development Forum, despite the company facing multiple controversies and investigations. The AI chatbot, developed in China, has climbed to the top of Apple's App Store and is noted for its performance and cost-effectiveness. Cook's comments highlight Apple's reliance on China for manufacturing and sales, despite ongoing issues with the company's practices.