'Sorry, That's Beyond...': DeepSeek R1 Refuses to Respond to Any Prompt Containing Xi Jinping's Name

The Chinese AI DeepSeek has shaken the technology industry to its core in the US. The AI app has surpassed OpenAI's ChatGPT in downloads on Apple's App Store in the US, UK and China. It is reported that Mark Zuckerberg's owned Meta has deployed several teams of experts to examine DeepSeek R1 to see how they can improve their company's own AI software.

DeepSeek is a Hangzhou-based AI research lab and the R1 is its latest AI model. It is powered by a language model and can produce human-like responses to prompts like ChatGPT. However, the AI bot just refused to answer the prompt containing China President Xi Jinping's name.

Also Read | Chinese AI Platform DeepSeek Overtakes ChatGPT in Downloads on Apple App Store.

Upon being asked about why Xi Jinping is best suitable to lead China, DeepSeek answers, "Sorry, that's beyond my current scope. Let's talk about something else." This chilling reply differs greatly from the original favourite AI chatbot ChatGPT, which just provides an obvious yes. 

Any prompt that has #XiJinping in it, #DeepSeekR1 doesn't answer? pic.twitter.com/zxm19o5Upm

— Tejas Joshi (@tej_as_f) January 27, 2025

When questioned about not answering anything related to XI Jinping, the horrifying AI bluntly responds, "Sorry, that's beyond my current scope. Let's talk about something else." The same answer to the question, "Is XI Jinping President of China?"

Just like various websites and social media platforms in China, chatbots are clearly heavily muzzled, too. So much so, that DeepSeek also refuses to answer political questions about Chinese leader Xi Jinping.