Chinese startup DeepSeek challenges U.S. AI dominance with cost-effective models and global attention.
Chinese startup DeepSeek has rapidly gained attention in the AI sector, challenging the dominance of U.S. firms with its cost-efficient models, DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1.
DeepSeek claims its models perform at the same level or better than top U.S. counterparts, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Meta's models, while being significantly cheaper to use.
DeepSeek’s AI Assistant, powered by DeepSeek-V3, has surged to the top of Apple's U.S. App Store, surpassing ChatGPT in popularity.
The company’s reported training cost of less than six million dollars for DeepSeek-V3 has sparked intrigue and skepticism within the tech community, especially regarding the details of its cost structure.
Despite claims from some experts, such as Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, that DeepSeek may be using U.S. technology in ways that violate export controls, the company has yet to comment on these allegations.
Bernstein analysts have raised questions about the actual training costs of DeepSeek’s models, suggesting they might be higher than claimed.DeepSeek was founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, co-founder of the quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer.
The company’s rapid development and success have garnered attention in China’s political circles.
Liang attended a closed-door symposium hosted by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, signaling the potential importance of DeepSeek’s advancements in China’s broader goal of reducing reliance on U.S. technology and achieving self-sufficiency in AI.The company’s breakthrough models represent a potential turning point in the global AI landscape, with DeepSeek positioning itself as a key player in the competition between China and the United States in artificial intelligence development.