For the first time since DeepSeek claimed the limelight in early 2025, the company made its presence public at a Chinese government-organised conference, where it was represented by a senior researcher. The researcher, named Chen Deli, talked about his pessimistic outlook on the impact of AI on humanity, going so far as to claim that AI could wipe away all human jobs. During the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Deli was accompanied by the chief executives of many other Chinese AI companies, including Unitree and BrainCo.
The DeepSeek researcher said during the conference that AI could be helpful to humans in the short term, but it could threaten human jobs within a decade, and AI firms need to be aware of the risks of models they are developing.
"In the next 10–20 years, AI could take over the rest of the work humans perform and society could face a massive challenge, so at the time tech companies need to take the role of ‘defender’," Deli said.
“I'm extremely positive about the technology, but I view the impact it could have on society negatively.”
He also warned that once AI systems become increasingly capable, “tech companies should serve as whistleblowers, warning society of potential risks”.
"Tech companies should play the role of guardians of humanity, at the very least protecting human safety, then helping to reshape societal order," he added.
Not the first AI company to warn about job loss:
Many AI leaders have warned about the potential of AI taking over much of the work done by humans. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, earlier in the year, had predicted that AI could wipe away half of entry-level white-collar jobs and spike unemployment.
Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also predicted that many jobs done by humans could be replaced by AI, but he has refrained from going to extremes like Amodei. While Altman maintains an overall positive outlook about AI, he has even talked about AI taking over his job in the future.
Others, like Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, have also acknowledged the possibility of AI taking away some of the jobs currently held by humans, but believe that the new technology could ultimately create newer and more valuable jobs.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has, however, pushed back against the prediction made by Amodei and said that job loss will not be in favour of an AI but to a human who uses AI effectively.
"You're not going to lose your job to an AI, but you're going to lose your job to someone who uses AI," Huang said earlier in the year.