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The Norinco P60’s launch was touted by Communist Party officers in press statements as an early showcase of how Beijing is utilizing DeepSeek and AI to catch up in its arms race with the United States, at a time when leaders in each nations have urged their militaries to arrange for battle.
A Reuters overview of tons of of analysis papers, patents and procurement data provides a snapshot of the systematic effort by Beijing to harness AI for navy benefit.
Specifics of how the techniques behind China’s next-generation weapons work and the extent to which it has deployed them are a state secret, however procurement data and patents provide clues into Beijing’s progress towards capabilities like autonomous goal recognition and real-time battlefield determination help in a manner that mirrors U.S. efforts.
Reuters couldn’t set up if all of the merchandise had been constructed and patents don’t essentially point out operational expertise.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and associates proceed to make use of and search for Nvidia chips, together with fashions underneath U.S. export controls, in line with the papers, tenders and patents.
Reuters couldn’t decide if these chips have been stockpiled earlier than Washington imposed restrictions because the paperwork don’t element when the {hardware} used was exported. Patents filed as just lately as June present their use by military-linked analysis institutes. In September 2022, the U.S. Commerce Department banned exports to China of Nvidia’s well-liked A100 and H100 chips.
Nvidia spokesman John Rizzo stated in a press release to Reuters that whereas the agency can’t observe particular person resales of beforehand offered merchandise, “recycling small portions of previous, second-hand merchandise doesn’t allow something new or increase any nationwide safety concern. Using restricted merchandise for navy functions could be a nonstarter, with out help, software program, or upkeep.”
The U.S. Treasury and Commerce Department didn’t reply to questions on Reuters’ findings.
The Chinese navy has additionally in 2025 elevated its use of contractors that declare to completely use domestically-made {hardware} like Huawei AI chips, stated Sunny Cheung, a fellow on the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation defence coverage think-tank, who analysed a number of hundred tenders issued from the PLA Procurement Network over six months this yr.
Reuters couldn’t independently affirm his assertion however the shift would coincide with a public strain marketing campaign by Beijing on home corporations to make use of China-made expertise.
The information company’s overview of procurement notices and patents filed to China’s patent workplace discovered demand for and use of Huawei chips by PLA associates, but it surely was not capable of confirm all of the tenders seen by Jamestown, which is releasing a report this week that it supplied early to Reuters.
Huawei declined to remark when requested about navy deployment of its chips. The Chinese defence ministry, DeepSeek, and Norinco didn’t return requests for remark about their use of AI for navy functions. The universities and defence corporations that filed the patents and analysis papers seen by Reuters additionally didn’t reply to comparable questions.
Usage of DeepSeek fashions was indicated in a dozen tenders from PLA entities filed this yr and seen by Reuters, whereas only one referenced Alibaba’s Qwen, a serious home rival.
Alibaba didn’t return a request for remark about navy use of Qwen.
DeepSeek-related procurement notices have accelerated all through 2025, with new navy functions showing repeatedly on the PLA community, in line with Jamestown.
DeepSeek’s recognition with the PLA additionally displays China’s pursuit of what Beijing calls “algorithmic sovereignty” – decreasing dependence on Western expertise whereas strengthening management over important digital infrastructure.
The U.S. Department of Defense declined to remark concerning the PLA’s use of AI.
China is AI-powered robotic canine that scout in packs and drone swarms that autonomously observe targets, in addition to visually-immersive command centres and superior warfare recreation simulations, in line with the paperwork.
In November 2024, the PLA issued a sci-fi-esque tender for AI-powered robotic canine that will scout collectively for threats and clear explosive hazards.
Reuters couldn’t establish if the tender was fulfilled. China has beforehand deployed armed robotic canine from AI robotics producer Unitree in navy drills, in line with photos launched in state media.
Unitree didn’t reply to queries about its PLA work.
The overview of patents, tenders and analysis papers revealed prior to now two years exhibits how PLA and affiliated entities wish to AI to enhance navy planning, together with creating expertise to rapidly analyse photos taken by satellites and drones.
Researchers at Landship Information Technology, a Chinese firm that integrates AI techniques into navy autos together with Norinco’s, stated in a February white paper launched to advertise their providers that its expertise constructed on Huawei chips can quickly establish targets from satellite tv for pc imagery, whereas coordinating with radars and plane to execute operations.
The time taken for navy planners to shift from discovering and figuring out a goal to executing an operation has additionally been shortened by AI, in line with Xi’an Technological University.
Researchers at that institute stated in a abstract of their findings launched in May that their DeepSeek-powered system was capable of assess 10,000 battlefield situations, every with completely different variables, terrain, and drive deployments, in 48 seconds.
Such a process would have taken a traditional crew of navy planners 48 hours to finish, they stated.
Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the researchers’ claims.
Chinese navy entities are investing in more and more autonomous battlefield expertise, the paperwork recommend.
Two dozen of the tenders and patents seen by Reuters present the navy making an attempt to combine AI into drones to allow them to acknowledge and observe targets, in addition to work collectively in formations with little human intervention.
Beihang University, identified for its navy aviation analysis, is utilizing DeepSeek to enhance drone swarm decision-making when concentrating on “low, sluggish, small” threats – navy shorthand for drones and light-weight plane – in line with a patent submitting this yr.
Chinese defence leaders have publicly dedicated to sustaining human management over weapons techniques amid rising concern {that a} battle between Beijing and Washington may result in the unchecked deployment of AI-powered munitions.
The U.S. navy, which can be investing in AI, is aiming to deploy hundreds of autonomous drones by the top of 2025 in what officers say is an try to counter China’s numerical benefit in unmanned aerial autos.
Chinese defence contractors like Shanxi 100 Trust Information Technology have touted in advertising and marketing supplies their reliance on domestically produced parts like Huawei’s Ascend chips, which permit AI fashions to function.
The agency didn’t reply to questions on its relationship with Huawei and the PLA.
Despite the transfer to home processors, Nvidia {hardware} continues to be incessantly cited in analysis by military-affiliated lecturers, in line with a overview of patent filings from the previous two years.
Reuters recognized 35 functions referencing use of Nvidia’s A100 chips by lecturers on the PLA’s National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) and on the “Seven Sons” – a gaggle of Chinese universities underneath U.S. sanctions and with a historical past of conducting defence-related analysis for Beijing.
Those entities in the identical time interval filed 15 patents associated to AI functions that cited Huawei Ascend {hardware}, which was designed as an alternative to Nvidia chips.
As just lately as June, the PLA Rocket Force University of Engineering individually filed a patent for a remote-sensing goal detection system, which it stated used A100 chips for mannequin coaching.
Senior Col. Zhu Qichao, who leads a NUDT analysis centre, informed Reuters final yr that U.S. restrictions have impacted their AI analysis “to a point,” although they’re decided to slender the technological hole.
Nvidia’s Rizzo performed down PLA demand for Nvidia’s {hardware}, saying that China “has greater than sufficient home chips for all of its navy functions.
