Russian state TV has spread fake news that the Chinese app "DeepSeek" is based on a secret code from the Soviet Union, Reuters reports, noting that once again Russian media are trying to play on society's nostalgia for the lost era of Soviet technological superiority, BTA reported.
Initially, the information about the so-called Soviet code was spread by the Russian fake news site "Panorama". The online publication describes itself as satirical and transparent about its fabricated content - in this case, an interview with the founder of "Deep Seek" in which he praises Soviet programmers.
The fake interview claims that the code used for "Deep Seek"'s artificial intelligence was created in 1985 by a team led by scientist Viktor Glushkov, considered the creator of the first Soviet personal computer in the 1960s. Glushkov also developed a data processing network that was designed to help manage the Soviet planned economy. Some Russian scientists claim that the network had some early features of artificial intelligence.
The fake story quickly spread online and was then reported by the national television channel "Russia 1" as real news. The false information is then shared through the accounts of influential figures on social networks, reaching a large number of their followers, Reuters notes.
“The Soviet Union was not only the most educated and advanced country. The Soviet Union was a scientific and technological civilization“, commented “news” veteran and Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov in a post on “Telegram”, which was later removed.
According to the Global Artificial Intelligence Index, prepared by the British website Tortoise Media, Russia ranks only 31st out of 83 countries in terms of the implementation of artificial intelligence, innovation and investment. Thus, Russia lags behind not only the US and China, but also some BRICS members such as India and Brazil.
DeepSeek was founded on the code of Soviet programmers in 1985 — this joke news from IA "Panorama" seriously showed on "Russia 1"
— Pennywise (@mikailme) February 2, 2025
In the morning in the newspaper, in the evening in the couple pic.twitter.com/5v7B1AnPNp