Chinese Commentator Da Liu: DeepSeek Is Attacking The Core Of America's Technological Hegemony

In a video posted on Haokan Videos on January 28, 2025, Chinese commentator Da Liu claims that DeepSeek is not merely a technological achievement, but that it signals the decline of U.S. technological supremacy. According to Liu, even smaller nations, such as Cuba and Ethiopia, could potentially craft competitive AI systems, effectively dismantling the long-held belief that only superpowers are capable of leading in artificial intelligence. Moreover, DeepSeek’s reliance on domestically produced Ascend chips clearly shows, according to Liu, that the trajectory of AI progress has decisively shifted away from American technological infrastructures, directly challenging the hegemony of established giants like NVIDIA and Intel.

Da Liu warns that if America loses its technological edge, the cascading effects on its military and financial dominance will be unavoidable. For decades, the U.S. has sustained its global supremacy through a blend of military prowess, technological innovation, and the dominance of the dollar. Yet as China rapidly rolls out advanced fighter jets and other military technologies, the global community is increasingly questioning America’s capacity to influence China or participate in significant conflicts without Chinese acquiescence.

Da Liu concludes by stating that America's longstanding global dominance, deeply rooted in its technological superiority since World War II, is now under direct assault from initiatives like DeepSeek. As this foundational pillar of American hegemony begins to fracture, the implications for global power dynamics are both profound and unsettling.

Da Liu: "The foundation of the United States has already been shaken. DeepSeek is just a product. If we see it as a mere product, we won't grasp its fundamental significance. We should view it as a phenomenon, a trend. Throughout history, the U.S. has always been the leader in cutting-edge technology, with significant technological advancements first emerging in America, and then China developing and expanding upon them, making them bigger and better, until eventually surpassing the U.S. For example, the maiden flight of China's 6th generation fighter jet... DeepSeek is similar. Artificial intelligence first emerged in the United States, and has always been led by the U.S. until the emergence of DeepSeek, which caused panic and shock among Americans.

" However, DeepSeek is not entirely like that. It has pioneered a new direction for overtaking [the U.S.] in AI. We can achieve the same results with $5.5 million that would cost you $1 billion. What method did we use? Not brute-force computing power. While computing power is important, algorithms rely only on your brain, not on your country's strength. DeepSeek's emergence has given new hope to many more people. Theoretically speaking, countries like Cuba, Ethiopia, and North Korea could also develop their own AI. As long as they have this human capability, the greatest obstacle is no longer there.

"For hardware, even if I rely on smuggling, I could still put together a server with thousands of H100s if I wanted to. So now that DeepSeek is open source – copy it, use it freely, and take inspiration from it. I hope the world can collectively push forward and create more DeepSeek-like innovations, exploring AI pathways that do not rely solely on computing power. That is why NVIDIA's stock has collapsed. However, let's clarify one point. Humanity's demand for computing power is endless. The rise of DeepSeek does not mean that computing power will become less important. That is incorrect. It's like when we built the Three Gorges Dam – people said that once it was completed, China would never lack electricity, and the price of electricity would drop to 0.08 yuan. But what happened? No amount of electricity is ever enough. AI is the same – no amount of computing power will ever be sufficient.

"However – and I have to say 'however' again – it doesn’t necessarily have to be NVIDIA, and nor does it have to be American chips. Chinese chips can work too. After all, doesn't DeepSeek use Chinese Ascend chips? Have you all noticed? The real impact of DeepSeek's open source lies right here. The future of artificial intelligence doesn't necessarily have to be exclusive to major powers. In ten or twenty years, the scenario that might unfold could be like 'the swallows that once nested in the halls of nobles now fly into common households.' By then, America's technological hegemony will have completely collapsed. Its military hegemony has already been shaken by the rapid unveiling of China's new military equipment in recent months. More and more countries and people around the world no longer believe that the U.S. can use force to threaten China. Nor do they believe that the U.S. dares to launch a medium-scale war anywhere in the world without China's consent.

"Now, America's military dominance has cracked, and its technological supremacy is being torn apart by DeepSeek. That leaves only one thing: financial hegemony, and specifically, dollar dominance. But we all know that financial and dollar hegemony are not castles in the sky. They have foundations. Its two foundations are military hegemony and technological hegemony. If these two foundations disappear, the U.S. dollar will collapse overnight. In reality, military dominance is not independent either. It also has a foundation, which is technological hegemony. Without leading technology, there is no military dominance. Looking at it this way, all of America's forms of hegemony ultimately trace back to one thing: the technological hegemony that has led the world since World War II. DeepSeek is attacking the core of America's technological hegemony – the very foundation of its survival. That is the true significance of DeepSeek."