Rice: Every national security expert I know was surprised by DeepSeek
Condoleezza Rice · Condoleezza Rice: U.S. Tech at Risk Amid University Cuts, China Threat · Jul 16, 2025 · at 4:24
Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice contrasts the reactions of national security experts and AI researchers to Chinese model DeepSeek.
0:00 / 0:04exact quote · 4.1s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“Every national security expert that I know was surprised by DeepSeek.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Condoleezza Rice
Rice: Democratic leadership in AI is safer than authoritarian rule
“I am one who believes that if somebody's going to win the race on these frontier technologies, it had better be a democracy. Because if something goes wrong in AI, and it's quite possible that something will, as a matter of fact, it's probable that something w…”
Rice: Chip Export Controls Cannot Eliminate China's AI Capabilities
“We know that the Nvidia chip, which was prohibited for sale in China, it probably slowed it, but we would be on a fool's errand if we think it's going to eliminate the ability of the Chinese to do these things.”
Rice: Stopping Indigenous Chinese Tech Required Action 10–15 Years Ago
“If we were going to stop Chinese indigenous development, we would have had to do that 1015 years ago before they really did Develop the ability to innovate indigenously.”
Rice: China will coerce Taiwan via pressure tactics rather than military invasion
“Look, I'm not saying that the Chinese won't move on Taiwan. I just think that the idea that they're just kind of one day, you're going to start to see the Chinese, ah, ships, Navy, Air Force, ah, landing on Taiwan. If you talk to most military people, they say…”
Rice: The US Has No 'Plan B' for Fundamental Research Outside Universities
“Commercial entities can't wait, and so having the fundamental research in universities, absolutely critical, and my concern is we don't have a plan B. You know, if it's not going to be done in universities, where is it going to be done?”
Rice: Universities would forfeit 11 points of overhead to reduce federal reporting
“So I would trade the federal government 11 points on what's called the indirect cost recovery. In other words, the overhead that the government pays. I trade 11 points if you don't make me report, ah, to the degree that you do.”