Islamic Culture and Relations Organization Spektrum Iran 0934-358X 38 2 2025 07 01 Iranian digital discourse, affective alignments, and the geopolitics of AI Iranian digital discourse, affective alignments, and the geopolitics of AI 187 212 241447 10.22034/spektrum.2026.551119.1040 DE Mahsa Havsson MSc, Computer and Systems Sciences; Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden 0009-0005-0918-7128 Mandana Sajjadi Assistant Professor, Department of Global Studies, Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran 0000-0003-3297-3950 Journal Article 2025 02 28 This study investigates how Persian-speaking users on X interpret and emotionally respond to DeepSeek, a Chinese-developed large language model. Drawing on a curated corpus of 1,112 posts collected from Iranian users, the research employs a mixed-method approach incorporating sentiment analysis, topic modeling, and co-occurrence network analysis. The findings reveal a layered discursive landscape in which DeepSeek serves not merely as a technological product but as a symbolic site for negotiating issues of geopolitical alignment, epistemic trust, and technological aspiration. Six major affective orientations—neutrality, skepticism, hope, pride, anxiety, and dismissiveness—structure user engagement with the model, reflecting ambivalent yet politically informed responses. Thematic analysis identified eight recurring topics, including performance comparisons, Chinese sovereignty, AI ethics, and cultural identity, which often co-occurred in complex rhetorical configurations. These results suggest that Iranian users deploy DeepSeek as a proxy to reflect on domestic technological constraints, platform politics, and the shifting contours of global AI hegemony. This study investigates how Persian-speaking users on X interpret and emotionally respond to DeepSeek, a Chinese-developed large language model. Drawing on a curated corpus of 1,112 posts collected from Iranian users, the research employs a mixed-method approach incorporating sentiment analysis, topic modeling, and co-occurrence network analysis. The findings reveal a layered discursive landscape in which DeepSeek serves not merely as a technological product but as a symbolic site for negotiating issues of geopolitical alignment, epistemic trust, and technological aspiration. Six major affective orientations—neutrality, skepticism, hope, pride, anxiety, and dismissiveness—structure user engagement with the model, reflecting ambivalent yet politically informed responses. Thematic analysis identified eight recurring topics, including performance comparisons, Chinese sovereignty, AI ethics, and cultural identity, which often co-occurred in complex rhetorical configurations. These results suggest that Iranian users deploy DeepSeek as a proxy to reflect on domestic technological constraints, platform politics, and the shifting contours of global AI hegemony. https://www.spektrumiran.com/article_241447_a915714e395492e716eaa43e1c48fc82.pdf