Huawei 'Genius Youth' Program Member Slams DeepSeek's Interview as 'Most Unprofessional Ever'

DeepSeek's aggressive hiring season has hit an unexpected public relations snag. A member of Huawei's prestigious 'Genius Youth' program — a highly selective recruitment initiative for elite graduates — took to social media to lambast the AI company's interview process, calling it the 'most unprofessional' experience they had ever faced. Chinese tech media outlet QbitAI reported the story, quoting the candidate's blunt assessment directly in its headline.

The Huawei 'Genius Youth' program targets the world's top graduate talent, offering exceptional compensation packages. That such a highly credentialed candidate would publicly criticize DeepSeek's hiring process has drawn considerable attention within China's AI talent community.

QbitAI's report added a telling commentary: 'No wonder DeepSeek keeps emphasizing they need to hire HR (doge).' The remark suggests that DeepSeek's HR and recruitment infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with the company's explosive growth.

Since late 2024, DeepSeek has experienced a meteoric rise fueled by the global success of its open-source models such as DeepSeek-V2 and DeepSeek-R1. That growth has translated into an urgent need to scale headcount — but rapid expansion often strains organizational processes.

The incident serves as a reminder that even the most technically brilliant AI companies can stumble on fundamentals like interview quality and candidate experience. For DeepSeek, fixing these process gaps may be critical to winning the war for top AI talent in an increasingly competitive landscape.