---
title: "DeepSeek as a Power Object"
date: 2025-01-31
author: Drew Breunig
description: "The wave of DeepSeek takes reveal more about our own hopes and concerns than they do about DeepSeek."
tags: ["language", "deepseek", "culture", "ai"]
url: https://www.dbreunig.com/2025/01/31/deepseek-as-a-power-object.html
---

The wave of DeepSeek takes reveal more about our own hopes and concerns than they do about DeepSeek.

One of my college professors, Donna Haraway, used the term "**power objects**" to define topics that we don't fully understand, yet recognize to be important. As a result, we end up projecting onto these "power objects" our own concerns. 

DNA was a power object. As were PET Scans, Big Data, the Internet, nuclear power, and so much more. Anything new we *believe* to be important while not understanding *why* it's important is a "power object." (At least until we understand it sufficiently to remove the mystique.)

DeepSeek is a *textbook* "power object," with every hot take spotlighting a person's desires and fears. Here's some I've noticed:

- **To AI Boosters**, DeepSeek proves LLM progress won't slow down.
- **To AI Skeptics**, DeepSeek proves AI companies have no moat.
- **To Open Source Advocates**, DeepSeek proves open development is superior.
- **To AI Doomers**, DeepSeek proves we aren't being careful enough.
- **To Security Researchers**, DeepSeek proves the risks of backdoors in models.
- **To Privacy Advocates**, DeepSeek proves LLM services are vectors for collecting sensitive data.
- **To China Hawks**, DeepSeek proves we need more US sanctions and investment in US champions.
- **To China Doves**, DeepSeek proves sanctions don't work and only inspire new innovation.
- **To NVIDIA Bears**, DeepSeek proves we won't need new data centers full of NVIDIA clusters.
- **To NVIDIA Bulls**, DeepSeek proves we'll need more GPUs for synthesizing training data and running inference.

...and so on! 

Whenever these big waves of takes hit – and a wave of DeepSeek's magnitude is rather rare – be aware of "power objects" and learn from the takes.

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