Visitors look at a robot during the 2024 World AI Conference in Shanghai, east China, July 5, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Local governments in China are racing to embrace cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence and intelligent robots, to facilitate decision-making and industrial innovation, after Chinese AI startup DeepSeek recently sparked a new wave of global discussions on technology.

The municipal government of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, recently deployed DeepSeek's open-source model on its government extranet, a private network for sharing information with selected external users, thereby pioneering the application of the model in fields such as government administration, urban management and public services.

Chen Geng, head of the infrastructure division at the Guangzhou Municipal Government Affairs Data Administration, said on Monday that the integration of the DeepSeek AI model can improve local residents' access to policy information and boost the efficiency of document processing.

Chen said the open-source ecosystem of DeepSeek lowers the threshold for AI applications, benefiting intelligent administrative operations in government institutions at the provincial, municipal and county levels.

Guangzhou has upgraded its hotline services for handling complaints and suggestions from local residents by integrating with the DeepSeek AI model and other new technologies. This has reduced the average waiting time for calls from the public by 43 percent and increased the accuracy of directing the calls to 97 percent, according to the city government.

In addition, the government of Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, has also completed the deployment of the DeepSeek-R1 model on its government extranet.

Li Haigang, director of the service center of Hohhot's big data management bureau, said on Monday, "We will promote the application of the DeepSeek model across various departments, starting with providing immediate response and intelligent Q&A for the complaint hotline, and gradually expanding to accommodate more departmental business scenarios."

Li added that the bureau plans to leverage advanced technologies such as big data and AI to analyze multimodal data, such as texts, images and videos, in order to support the aggregation and sharing of public data.

As of Monday, at least eight cities in China had announced integration with the DeepSeek AI model to empower local government services.

Moreover, some local governments have organized learning sessions to help officials and business professionals understand the development and application of DeepSeek and other AI technologies.

On Saturday, officials of Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, participated in a collective learning session on DeepSeek, during which Shen Yang, a professor at Tsinghua University's College of AI, provided insights into domestic and international AI models, the use of DeepSeek, and AI-generated content and applications in various industries, according to Zhengzhou Daily.

An Wei, secretary of the Communist Party of China Zhengzhou committee, called for all officials in the city to master the use of AI models like DeepSeek, in order to fully leverage AI to assist in decision-making and improve work efficiency.

He also emphasized the need to align with the demands of Zhengzhou's industrial transformation, promoting the integration of AI technology with strategic emerging industries, advantageous traditional industries, and new business formats such as the use of short videos, livestreaming and cultural creativity.

In the Jinpu New Area of Dalian, Liaoning province, a training session on applications of the DeepSeek AI model was held on Friday for more than 1,300 participants, including key government officials and representatives from over 500 enterprises, according to Li Yan, chief of the Jinpu New Area's data bureau.

She said on Monday that the bureau will use AI models to empower government services by continuously improving the efficiency of government work, facilitating the transformation and upgrading of emerging industries, reducing the costs and increasing the efficiency of enterprises, and driving the high-quality development of the new area.

In addition to the application of the DeepSeek AI model in government services, the use of AI technology is also being encouraged in other fields, such as the new energy industry.

In December, a three-year action plan for technological innovation in the new energy industry was jointly released by 11 departments in Shan­dong province. It aims to establish an intelligent power management platform integrated with AI, achieving large-scale application by 2027.

According to People's Daily Online, State Grid Shandong Electric Power Co has developed an AI-assisted intelligent power regulation model, achieving real-time control of various segments of the power industry chain.

Besides AI, senior officials across the country are also focusing on other technologies in emerging and future industries.

Guangdong Governor Wang Wei­zhong visited the high-tech hub of Shenzhen last week to inspect the development of intelligent robots, AI, autonomous driving and quantum technology, according to Guangdong TV.

Wang emphasized the need to accelerate breakthroughs in key components such as machine brains, limbs and bodies, and to promote the innovative application of intelligent robots in scenarios such as elderly care and public services.

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