In Moscow on Feb 6, a satirical Russian news report claimed that China's DeepSeek AI app was developed based on a secret Soviet code, reflecting a sense of nostalgia in Russian society for a past era of technological prowess.
The Panorama fake news website, known for its satirical content, published a fabricated interview with Liang Wenfeng, the DeepSeek founder, praising Soviet programmers. The made-up story alleged that the app's code originated in 1985 under scientist Viktor Glushkov's leadership, who created the first Soviet personal computer in the 1960s and a data-processing network with early artificial intelligence features for the Soviet planned economy.
The fictitious article gained widespread attention and was presented as genuine news by the national TV channel Rossiya One, subsequently circulating on influential social media platforms.
Veteran Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov was quoted on Telegram, affirming, "The Soviet Union was a scientific and technological civilization."
Despite its historical achievements, Russia currently ranks 31st for AI implementation, innovation, and investment worldwide according to Tortoise Media's Global AI Index. The country lags behind the US, China, India, and Brazil, closely monitoring China's advancements in artificial intelligence, especially with the recent global impact of DeepSeek's latest models.