DeepSeek has become a sensation overnight.
The Chinese AI lab DeepSeek made a big splash this week when its chatbot app skyrocketed to the top of the Apple App Store and Google Play charts. Using innovative techniques to train its AI models, DeepSeek has prompted Wall Street analysts and tech experts to question whether the U.S. can maintain its lead in the AI race and meet the demand for AI chips.
But how did DeepSeek emerge, and what sparked its rapid rise to global fame?
DeepSeek’s roots in trading
Founded by AI enthusiast Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek is supported by High-Flyer Capital Management, a Chinese hedge fund incorporating AI into its trading strategies. Beginning as a lab under High-Flyer in 2023, DeepSeek transitioned into its own entity, with a focus on AI tools research, while High-Flyer continued its financial operations.
From the start, DeepSeek prioritized building its data center clusters for model training. Despite facing challenges due to U.S. restrictions on hardware exports, the company adapted by utilizing alternative chips for training its models.
DeepSeek’s tech team is known for its young talent, actively recruiting AI researchers and individuals from diverse backgrounds to enhance its technology across various domains.
DeepSeek’s groundbreaking models
DeepSeek introduced its initial models, including DeepSeek Coder, DeepSeek LLM, and DeepSeek Chat, in November 2023. The real breakthrough came in the following spring with the launch of DeepSeek-V2, a cost-effective text and image analysis system that outperformed competitors in AI benchmarks.
The subsequent release of DeepSeek-V3 in December 2024 further solidified DeepSeek’s reputation in the AI realm. Demonstrating superior performance compared to other models, DeepSeek V3, along with the reasoning model R1, gained recognition for their accuracy and reliability in critical domains like physics and mathematics.
Despite its success, DeepSeek’s models face scrutiny from Chinese regulators to ensure alignment with socialist values, impacting the content permissible in its chatbot app.
As DeepSeek continues to evolve and expand its offerings, the future remains uncertain amid concerns over foreign influence and regulatory actions from various entities.
Published on January 28, 2025, this story will be regularly updated.
