DeepSeek AI: China's Innovation and lessons for Africa

China's disruption of the AI space with DeepSeek should not surprise anyone. As China continues to push the boundaries of technological innovation, it has adopted a strategy of acquiring, adapting, and mastering advanced technologies from the West to rapidly accelerate its own growth. This approach is not limited to AI; it extends to various industries, including rail transport and autonomous vehicles.

The structure of the global intellectual property (IP) system was never designed to elevate poorer nations; rather, it has historically served to benefit wealthier, developed countries. In fact, it often discourages meaningful technology transfer from the West to developing regions. The current IP regime is structured to enable the West to prosper while the rest of the world pays the price, particularly in the domain of technological development.

Africa can learn valuable lessons from China in how to approach technology acquisition. It is both inefficient and costly to continually reinvent the wheel. Instead, Chinese engineers have pioneered a strategy of acquiring, adapting, and domestically integrating Western technology to suit their national needs. This approach has enabled China to become a global leader in innovation without solely relying on original R&D.

Take the example of GE’s locomotive technology: China has successfully “acquired” and fully domesticated this advanced technology, adapting it for its own use. The rapid integration of GE’s rolling stock technology can be seen in the diesel locomotives operating on Africa’s standard gauge railways. Additionally, Bombardier’s cutting-edge rail technology was also absorbed and adapted by Chinese engineers, particularly in the production of high-speed trains. China has learned from global manufacturers such as Bombardier, Alstom, and Kawasaki, mastering the production of bullet trains. Today, China is home to a new generation of trains capable of reaching speeds up to 350km/h, a significant leap in technological achievement.

Moreover, Chinese engineers are actively “assimilating” cutting-edge autonomous vehicle technologies from major players like Apple, Google, and Volvo. This is not to say that China is neglecting domestic research and development—quite the opposite. For example, in 2017, China filed 1.38 million new patents and invested over USD $279 billion in scientific research.

This pattern of rapid technology assimilation is now being mirrored in the field of artificial intelligence with DeepSeek AI. As a rising star in the AI space, DeepSeek is pushing the envelope in deep learning, machine vision, and more, creating competition for established players like Nvidia, OpenAI, and Claude.

While companies like Nvidia dominate the hardware space, and OpenAI and Claude lead in large language models (LLMs), DeepSeek has emerged as a formidable force by strategically assimilating and building cutting-edge AI technologies. Competing head-to-head with Nvidia’s GPUs, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Claude's innovations, DeepSeek AI is setting the stage for a new era of AI development from China and the world, in terms of access and affordability.

China’s aggressive strategy of technology absorption, combined with its own robust R&D investments, is positioning the nation as a leader in the global AI race. The sophistication with which China acquires and adapts these technologies is striking. The process of technology transfer from the West to China is more akin to a modern-day form of technological warfare.

For African engineers and entrepreneurs, it’s clear that China’s approach offers valuable insights into how to assimilate advanced technologies quickly and cost-effectively.

This might sound like unconventional opinion, and indeed it is, that time has come to recognize that, rather than starting from scratch, Africa can fast-track its technological growth by strategically assimilating and adapting existing technologies to meet local needs.

This is the challenge facing African engineers today: To adopt China’s proactive, aggressive strategy of technology assimilation, rather than relying on slow, expensive reinvention. Especially where national budgets are thin and national R+D expenditures almost negligeble.

The future of technology in emerging markets is about mastering the art of assimilaton, adaptation, and innovation, and Africa must rise to meet this challenge if it is to compete in the global tech economy.