China is not ahead of West on AI despite DeepSeek surge, Google boss insists
Matt Brittin, president of Google EMEA, sat down with ITV News to discuss a partnership with the Community Union, which will train up to 40,000 members in AI.
The president of Google Europe has insisted China is not ahead of the West on Artificial Intelligence, despite the surge of a new chatbot which has taken the world by storm.
DeepSeek, which recently became the most downloaded app in the US, sent shockwaves through the American stock market with the launch of the latest AI models - which it claims are better than its rivals and made at a fraction of the cost.
Tech commentators have said the development shows China is way ahead of the West on AI but Matt Brittin, who leads Google operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), has denied that is the case.
"I don't recognise that at all," he said. The president of Google EMEA was talking to ITV News to discuss a new partnership with the Community Union, which will train up to 40,000 members in AI.
Mr Brittin claimed Google's own chatbot Gemini is "seeing similar or better improvements in performance" than DeepSeek.
It says its large language AI model was much cheaper to make than rivals from OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and Meta, which use much more expensive Nvidia chips to train their systems.
The claim caused Nvidia's share price to fall by about $589 billion dollars (more than £477 billion), the biggest ever one-day loss in market value on Wall Street.
Mr Brittin insisted the DeepSeek advancement did not surprise Google's experts "at all", despite the huge market shock, but added: "It does show how fast the technology is moving."
There is nervousness among politicians in the West, not only about China dominating the AI space, but about whether the country's government could use tech firms to carry out nefarious activities against foreign states.
Mr Brittin appeared to share those concerns.
"It's clear that different states around the world in this very unsettled geopolitical time use technology to protect themselves, but also for political advantage," he said. "The best thing we can do in the West, in Britain, and in Europe is to also be at the forefront of those technologies."
A Downing Street spokesman said the advancements show the UK must “go further and faster to remove barriers to innovation” in the AI sector.
Asked whether the government would be open to using Chinese AI such as DeepSeek in Whitehall, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We’ve got some of the strongest data protection laws in the world and we will always ensure personal data and the operation of public services is handled responsibly and securely.
“But more broadly on the developments over the last few days, the rapid development and breakthrough of new AI models demonstrates exactly why the UK is so focused on AI and why we need to go further and faster to remove barriers to innovation here to make the UK a more competitive market.
“And whilst we’ve already got the third largest AI market in the world, we’ve got an opportunity to get ahead and do more, and that’s what our AI Opportunities action plan is all about.”
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Prime Minister Starmer has promised to embrace the technology and turn the UK into an “AI superpower” with a multibillion pound investment which he says will see AI “mainlined into the veins” of the UK.
The government believes an AI revolution in the UK, which would allow the tech to assist on everything from the NHS to locating potholes, could grow the UK economy by an additional £400 billion by 2030.
Mr Brittin said Starmer has "got a good plan but he's got to move fast and that means getting some of the bureaucracy out of the way".
He added: "The most important thing is that we don't wait, that we don't miss this moment as the UK."
Google EMEA President on new partnership to train 40,000 union members in AI
The Google president urged the UK to bring in a national skills service to train people in using AI and ensure Britain does not fall behind.
He said a scheme similar to Google's new partnership with the Community Union could be scaled up and offered to everyone in the UK.
As part of a new pilot, the tech firm is offering the Community Union's 40,000 members an upskilling programme, to show AI can benefit operational workers as well as office-based staff.
Mr Brittin said: "Together, we'll learn how AI can help everyone become more productive, and give workers more opportunities to focus on the most impactful parts of their roles that only humans can do.
"This programme will be key to empowering people with crucial future skills that will boost their employment prospects, while unlocking growth that will make the UK more prosperous and competitive in a fast changing world.”