On September 17, 2025, the cover of Nature magazine shocked the world: DeepSeek-R1, an AI model from China, not only topped the cover, but also became the first deep learning model in history to fully pass the classic peer review process. This is not a show-off demo, nor is it a PPT-style technology show, but a real hard-core scientific research breakthrough.

Leading the team is Liang Wenfeng of Zhejiang University, a name that was not widely known in international academic circles before, but with a paper, the world had to re-examine the strength of China's AI. What's even more staggering is that this achievement not only achieves "technical transparency", but also withstands all kinds of "torture" from 73 international experts, and even the Nature editorial department can't help but sigh: "This may be a turning point in the industry." ”

The scientific research "black box" was pried open, and the Chinese team went too ruthlessly

In the AI circle, everyone knows an unspoken rule: the model is exaggerated, but the real details are always hidden. Especially those large models with tens of billions of parameters at every turn, training data, hardware configuration, and security testing...... If you can hide, you can hide, and if you can paste it, you can paste it.

But DeepSeek-R1 doesn't play this set. Liang Wenfeng's team spread all the "guts" of the model in the sun - how the architecture was designed, how the data was cleaned, how many hours the GPU used, how to compare energy consumption, and even the details of 117 security tests were disclosed one by one. This is not a scientific research show, this is telling the world: "We have confidence and confidence." ”

According to the paper, the model was trained on 4,096 domestic Ascend 910 chips, consuming a total of 78,000 GPU hours. This alone caught many models that relied on American hardware to "pile up". What's even more interesting is that the training energy consumption is reduced by 38% compared to similar models. This is not a decimal point optimization, but a real technical upgrade.

In an editorial at the same time, the Nature editorial office bluntly stated that the study "fills a gap in the industry" and is "a key step towards transparency and reproducibility." The subtext behind this sentence is not difficult to understand: AI can no longer rely on the "black box" to mess around, and the Chinese team took the lead in throwing the first brick.

Zoubin Ghahramani, a professor of machine learning at the University of Cambridge, wrote more directly in his comments: "This level of open review sets a new benchmark for AI research. You know, this is a veteran expert in Cambridge, who has always been known for being picky. What can convince him is not a gimmick, but a real kung fu.

You can play without A100, DeepSeek does not rely on "luck", but on "confidence"

To put it bluntly, now in AI, computing power is the lifeblood. Especially for large models, there are few top GPUs that can't be played at all. However, on the Chinese side, since the United States issued a GPU export ban in 2023, high-end goods such as A100 and H100 cannot enter customs. So how did DeepSeek come about? The answer is: rely on your own algorithm breakthrough.

Their self-developed "sparse activation training method" has enabled the utilization rate of model parameters to reach 92%. This means that tasks that originally required more computing power to run can now be completed with fewer hardware resources. According to comparative tests, this method is 17 percentage points more efficient than Google's PaLM model.

Behind this is not only technical ability, but also a kind of "forced innovation". As the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said: "This proves that Chinese researchers can achieve technological independence in key areas." This sentence sounds low-key, but it is full of weight. Under the high wall, China's scientific research did not sit and wait for the sanctions to be lifted, but took the initiative to attack and killed a bloody road.

And it's not just a matter of hardware and algorithms. The passage of this paper also has a complete set of scientific research governance logic behind it. The team comes from Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University and other domestic universities, and the cooperative units include national platforms such as Zhijiang Laboratory and Pengcheng Laboratory. The whole process is like a coordinated and orderly "scientific research battle", which not only produces results, but also verifies the organizational efficiency of China's "new national system".

Wang Huaimin, secretary-general of the Artificial Intelligence Alliance of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said clearly: "DeepSeek's success has practiced the advantages of collaborative innovation between industry, university and research under the 'new national system'. This is not a slogan, but a manifestation of institutional self-confidence.

From "following and running" to "taking and going", China's AI is entering the international arena

In the past, the world's impression of China's AI was mostly "fast, rolling, and daring to invest money", but when it comes to scientific research standards and discourse, there is always a bit of a "marginal person". But this time is different, the birth of DeepSeek-R1 is not only a technical event, but also a paradigm shift in scientific research.

Nature chose this paper as the cover, not only because of its technical excellence, but also because it represents a "new standard": open, reproducible, and responsible. After years of being plagued by "black boxes" in the AI industry, this is undoubtedly a clear stream. And this clear stream does not come from Silicon Valley, but from Hangzhou.

At present, scientific research institutions in more than 20 countries have applied to replicate experiments, and the European Union Artificial Intelligence Agency (EUAIA) and the IEEE Standards Institute have also begun to study whether to use this as a template to formulate AI transparency standards. This means that China is not only making models, but also defining rules.

In the international AI arena, we used to revolve around the West, but now people are starting to look around us. This change of role does not rely on shouting slogans or capital piling, but on hard-core scientific research achievements and practical institutional innovations.

This is why the Nature editorial wrote the sentence so emotionally: "This scientific research practice from the East is redefining what truly responsible artificial intelligence research is." "This is not a compliment, it is an acknowledgment.

DeepSeek-R1 is not an isolated case, it is a sign that Chinese scientific research has entered the "deep waters". It tells the world that China is not only a follower of technology, but also a standard setter and paradigm leader.

Liang Wenfeng and his team did not rely on "background" and "gimmicks" to get out of the circle, but used a paper to leave the world speechless. This is the power of scientific research and the confidence of China's intelligent manufacturing.

At a time when the world is anxious about the future of AI, China has handed over a responsible answer. not show-off, but transparent; Not closed, but shared; Not slogans, but actions. No one can pack tickets in the future. But at least for now, we are on the path to changing the world.