The AI’s responses to queries related to dissident artists and artistic freedom were terse and biased in favor of the Chinese government.

The 40-year-old founder of China's DeepSeek, an AI startup that has startled markets with its capacity to compete with industry leaders like OpenAI, kept a low profile as he built up a hedge fund that now manages a reported $8 billion in assets.

After Mr Xi took power in 2012, use of it mushroomed. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate, a body responsible for prosecuting crimes and supervising implementation of the law, has called out abuses. Last year it noted the use of torture, including starvation and sleep deprivation, in 2019 during RSDL in Jiangsu province.