Social media exploded in a celebration after the news that a Chinese start-up had made an artificial intelligence tool that was more efficient than any in the United States.

ChatGPT got that idea right. It said Winnie-the-Pooh had become a symbol of political satire and resistance, often used to mock or criticize Xi. It explained that internet users compared Xi to the bear because of perceived similarities in their physical appearance.

In some ways, DeepSeek was far less censored than most Chinese platforms, offering answers with keywords that would often be quickly scrubbed on domestic social media. Other times, the program eventually censored itself.