An “important contributor” in the creation of a controversial artificial intelligence platform from China has ties to two major Australian universities.
Zizheng Pan, a researcher at DeepSeek, completed his master’s degree in computer science at the University of Adelaide in 2020, before earning his PhD in the same field at Monash University just last year.
Dr. Pan participated in a collaborative research project between Australia and China through the Zhaung Intelligent Processing Lab (ZIP Lab) at Monash University, which primarily focused on the development of machine learning systems. He also holds a degree from Harbin Institute of Technology, a Chinese university that security experts have flagged as high risk due to its close connections with the People’s Liberation Army.
The software engineer has now been recognized as a key figure in the development of the Chinese AI start-up, DeepSeek. Following the launch of its latest model last month, the platform gained significant traction, even surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT on the App Store.
Zhiding Yu, a former colleague from the US-based rival company Nvidia, remarked that Dr. Pan made the “decisive” choice to join DeepSeek in July 2024 with “little hesitation.” “I am still very much impressed by Zizheng’s decision at that time,” he shared on social media last week. “He has been an important contributor to several significant projects at DeepSeek, including DeepSeek-VL2, DeepSeek-V3, and DeepSeek-R1.”
This development comes on the heels of an announcement from Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, who placed a ban on DeepSeek across all federal government systems and devices due to data security concerns. “AI is a technology full of potential and opportunity – but the government will not hesitate to act when our agencies identify a national security risk,” Burke stated in a press release on Tuesday.
In response, China quickly voiced its position through foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, who emphasized the government’s commitment to data privacy and security. “We have never asked and will never ask any company or individual to collect or store data in violation of laws,” he asserted during a press conference on Thursday. “China has always opposed any attempts to stretch the definition of national security or politicize issues related to trade and technology.”
Despite this, Burke continued to uphold the government’s ban on the platform, underscoring its priority of safeguarding government assets. As a result, all government entities are mandated to remove DeepSeek products from their devices, with the exception of corporate organizations like Australia Post.
Priyam Gera