Telegram Founder Durov Claims Chinese Education Surpasses Western
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has linked China's swift progress in artificial intelligence to its highly competitive education system. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
The Russian tech billionaire has cautioned that DeepSeek’s achievements in AI are merely the beginning.
Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov has credited China’s swift progress in artificial intelligence to its fiercely competitive education system, underlining the nation’s sustained excellence in mathematics and programming.
In a statement made on Wednesday, Durov remarked that China’s educational environment instills “fierce competition” among its students, a concept reminiscent of the “highly efficient” Soviet model. He contrasted this with the Western educational mindset, where competition is often downplayed to safeguard students' feelings.
“Victory and defeat are two sides of the same coin. Eliminate the losers — and you eliminate the winners,” Durov stated in a post that honors the Chinese New Year.
He pointed out that while it may seem benevolent to label all students as champions, irrespective of their performance, the harsh reality post-graduation will soon dispel this notion.
“Reality, unlike well-meaning school policies, does have public grades and rankings — whether in sports, business, science, or technology,” he wrote on Wednesday, cautioning that a lack of transparency regarding student performance could render school meaningless for driven teenagers.
“AI benchmarks that demonstrate DeepSeek’s superiority are one of such public rankings. And more are coming,” he warned.
“China’s progress in algorithmic efficiency hasn’t come out of nowhere,” Durov elaborated, highlighting that Chinese students have consistently “long outperformed others in math and programming at international Olympiads.”
China holds a leading position over the US in cumulative medal counts at the International Mathematical Olympiad, boasting 185 gold medals to the US's 151, as well as 102 to 68 in the International Olympiad in Informatics. Although the US narrowly defeated China by just two points in the 2024 IMO, ending a decade-long streak, some critics attributed this success to the “disproportionate” Asian representation on the American team.
Durov’s remarks arrive following the notable performance of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which has created an open-source reasoning model without reliance on advanced US chips and at a significantly lower cost. He warned that unless the US education system undergoes considerable reforms to promote competition and recognize excellence, China’s ascendance in technology seems inevitable.
Mark B Thomas contributed to this report for TROIB News
Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov has credited China’s swift progress in artificial intelligence to its fiercely competitive education system, underlining the nation’s sustained excellence in mathematics and programming.
In a statement made on Wednesday, Durov remarked that China’s educational environment instills “fierce competition” among its students, a concept reminiscent of the “highly efficient” Soviet model. He contrasted this with the Western educational mindset, where competition is often downplayed to safeguard students' feelings.
“Victory and defeat are two sides of the same coin. Eliminate the losers — and you eliminate the winners,” Durov stated in a post that honors the Chinese New Year.
He pointed out that while it may seem benevolent to label all students as champions, irrespective of their performance, the harsh reality post-graduation will soon dispel this notion.
“Reality, unlike well-meaning school policies, does have public grades and rankings — whether in sports, business, science, or technology,” he wrote on Wednesday, cautioning that a lack of transparency regarding student performance could render school meaningless for driven teenagers.
“AI benchmarks that demonstrate DeepSeek’s superiority are one of such public rankings. And more are coming,” he warned.
“China’s progress in algorithmic efficiency hasn’t come out of nowhere,” Durov elaborated, highlighting that Chinese students have consistently “long outperformed others in math and programming at international Olympiads.”
China holds a leading position over the US in cumulative medal counts at the International Mathematical Olympiad, boasting 185 gold medals to the US's 151, as well as 102 to 68 in the International Olympiad in Informatics. Although the US narrowly defeated China by just two points in the 2024 IMO, ending a decade-long streak, some critics attributed this success to the “disproportionate” Asian representation on the American team.
Durov’s remarks arrive following the notable performance of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which has created an open-source reasoning model without reliance on advanced US chips and at a significantly lower cost. He warned that unless the US education system undergoes considerable reforms to promote competition and recognize excellence, China’s ascendance in technology seems inevitable.
Mark B Thomas contributed to this report for TROIB News
