Reading Newsletter #14: Diving into China's Deepseek, Meta and fact-checking, and frozen shoulders
Things that made me pay attention lately
Writer’s Note: I apologize for taking an extended break from writing this newsletter. The holidays and the start of the year kept me at bay. But I’m back and giddy about putting down thoughts on three topics this week.
This week’s biggest story was triggered by news of a Chinese startup launching Deepseek, an open-source AI alternative to Western AI technologies made by OpenAI and Antrophic. In a nutshell, what is this hullabaloo all about?
Deepseek stunned the AI community by developing a robust, cheaper AI alternative.
Technopreneur Marc Andreessen tagged this development as a “Sputnik moment” for the American AI community, hinting at the start of an AI race between China and the US.
Deepseek is a product of China, and its terms and conditions are aligned with the government. Thus, many fear its political and security implications for users.
Minus the political and security issues that users discovered, AI tech users and developers see this as an essential milestone because (a) it uses a different method that allows it to run on “fewer resources.” This sent stocks of NVIDIA, a company that produces those expensive AI chips, tumbling.
Deepseek is open-sourced, meaning any AI developer can use and improve its underlying code. While its algorithm remains opaque, some AI developers have started using versions of it to determine what makes it more efficient than the current and expensive options from Western makers.
Because this AI is made in China, many have called out Deepseek’s censorship of controversial topics, including Tiananmen Square, Taiwan, and even the “Nine Dash Line,” a demarcation line used by China to claim a major portion of the South China Sea. Nine-dashed lines drawn on Chinese maps encompassing approximately 90% of the South China Sea, indicating China's claimed territorial waters and maritime features. This overlaps with the territorial claims of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries and violates international maritime rules.
Deepseek claimed to have used fewer resources and allegedly used some NVIDIA chips. Still, because the US limited the sale of NVIDIA chips to China, people are debating whether its claims are valid.
Deepseek’s founder is a hedge fund manager who launched his startup two years ago. As the reports said, his mission is not for profit but to help expand the AI community. "Our principle is not to lose money, nor to make huge profits … our starting point is not to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune, but to be at the forefront of technology and promote the development of the entire ecosystem,” Deepseek founder Liang Wenfeng said.
This news has sparked discussion and debates online and on social media, including friends and fellow tech observers. From a tech perspective, this exciting development challenges the so-called Silicon Valley hegemony, which led the AI race. With China in the picture, the US government monitors this development, flagging its potential national security and ethical implications for American users.
Fact-checkers out of Meta, now what?
When news broke that Meta is firing third-party fact-checkers in the US and the rest of the world, I wanted to send out this newsletter quickly. What is it, and why does it matter to us?
Meta (Facebook's parent company) has terminated its partnerships with fact-checking organizations, ending their work of flagging misinformation across Facebook and Instagram. This marks a significant shift in how the company handles content moderation.
Meta said it would implement a community-driven system called “Community Notes ” instead of third-party checkers—mostly news organizations paid to do this work — a similar approach to X (formerly Twitter).
Meta effectively shifted towards promoting more political content and reducing content moderation.
Mark Zuckerberg said fact-checkers' work was “too politically biased.” Thus, he is abandoning this method of flagging misinformation and hate speech on the platform.
Why it matters: Without these third-party fact-checkers, there's growing concern about how false information will be identified and managed on Meta's platforms.
Big Picture Question: Is this move signaling a broader industry trend away from third-party fact-checking on social media platforms, or is Meta simply cutting operational costs? The answer could reshape how we consume and verify information online.
You can watch Mark talk about his decision in this recorded video.
Here are some thoughts on how this move will impact content moderation and the spread of misinformation and fake news on this platform:
Reduced oversight. While Mark argues that they will still moderate harmful content, transitioning from the fact-checkers to the community-based system may lead to less effective flagging of false information, potentially increasing the spread of misinformation.
Challenges in community moderation. We can’t rely on the community to police a platform. The community also has biases, which could result in inconsistent moderation, as not all members are experts. Journalists are trained professionals who count fact-checking among their basic skills.
Experts, politicians, and advertisers are concerned. Politicians expressed concern that this move may lead to a surge of misinformation and hate speech on the platform. Conversely, advertisers are worried about having their brands exposed to false and potentially offensive content due to the easing of moderation.
Frozen shoulder, ouch!
Doctors say a frozen shoulder has no known cause and is idiopathic, a medical term that means “We don’t know.” A quick Google search has provided several clues, including one that is linked to my other medical condition: diabetes.
Why am I paying attention to this? Well, I have been under physical therapy for the past few weeks after the doctor said I suffer from one. It started around mid-November 2024, but a swim exacerbated what I did during that month. Thinking I only strained my muscles, I attempted to swim again as a form of exercise, but pain suddenly shot through my shoulders, causing me to scream silently. So I swam away from the people in the pool and shed a tear quietly.
For weeks, I did stretches, strength exercises, and more stretches. I also had electrical currents targeted at my muscles (deltoids) and nerves to relax them. This was followed by an ultrasound machine, which relaxed deeper muscles in a targeted area in my left shoulder. I learned terms like flexion, abduction, and rotation, which refer to the movements of our shoulders. I was also strapped to a machine called a CPM. This machine would do passive movements like forward flexion, which takes my arms forward until they align with my ears. (I can do around 170-degree of the 190-degree movement). And then there’s the lateral abduction, where the machine moves my left arm to the side until it reaches my head. This movement was a struggle. Finally, there’s the internal rotation, where you attempt to scratch your back using your arm bent at a right angle. This made me wince out of pain.
My friends are joking that this condition is tied to aging. Wear and tear, maybe?
What have I learned so far from this condition?
We need to be mobile, especially as we age. I think mobility can help prevent these conditions.
Patience is a virtue. The PT exercises are hard and painful.
I have a renewed appreciation for small shoulder movements now. While I can still drive, I cannot lift too much weight, which could strain my shoulders.
I have to sleep on my back, not on my side, especially my left side.
I love those topical relievers, including those “hot” plasters you can buy from a pharmacy. It delivers instant relief. Hot packs are also helpful these days!