Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, has expressed concerns about the United States lagging behind China in the technology sector. This statement follows China's announcement of DeepSeek, a new artificial intelligence (AI) platform competing with OpenAI's ChatGPT. Durov made these remarks in a January 29 post on X.

"China's success in AI stems from its Soviet-style education system, which fosters strong competition — unlike Western schools that hide grades to protect feelings," said Durov. "If the US doesn't reform its education system, it risks ceding tech leadership to China."

According to Durov, China's advantage stems from its superior education standards compared to those in the U.S. "Chinese students have long outperformed others in math and programming at international olympiads," he said in an extended post on Telegram. Durov attributes China's educational success to a Soviet-style competitive model, which he claims is absent in the U.S. He suggests that without educational reforms, China's dominance in the tech sector may become "inevitable."

Screenshot of Post on X | X

DeepSeek is a Chinese AI startup that has developed an advanced open-source reasoning model known as DeepSeek-R1. According to the Financial Times, this model rivals leading Western AI systems like OpenAI's ChatGPT. Founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek has garnered attention for its innovative and cost-effective approach to AI development. The release of DeepSeek-R1 signifies China's accelerating progress in artificial intelligence, posing a challenge to the dominance of U.S. tech companies.

Vivek Ramaswamy responded to Durov's statement on X by highlighting deficiencies in U.S. education: "75% of U.S. 8th graders aren’t proficient in math right now." He advocates for dismantling the Department of Education and granting states more control over education.

CNBC reports skepticism from some analysts regarding DeepSeek's achievements. Experts question the transparency of its development process and call for independent evaluations to verify its claims. Xiaomeng Lu, director of Eurasia Group’s geo-technology practice, said: "The takeaway is that there are many possibilities to develop this industry... But DeepSeek proves we are still in the nascent stage of AI development and the path established by OpenAI may not be the only route to highly capable AI."

Durov is recognized as the founder, owner, and CEO of Telegram by Forbes.