You must have heard about ChatGPT. Chances are you’re already using it. However, there is a new AI tool that’s been unleashed in the market and it has Open AI, the US and the entire tech industry up in flames.
DeepSeek, China’s latest AI breakthrough has left the world stunned.
At first glance, DeepSeek is just another AI chatbot, like ChatGPT. It’s designed to answer your questions, help you with tasks, and make life easier. But here’s the catch – it runs on a massive AI model called R1, which has 670 billion parameters. In simple terms, that makes it the biggest open-source language model ever built, reported BBC.
DeepSeek was launched on January 20, 2025, and within days, it became the most downloaded app on Apple’s App Store. Investors couldn’t believe it. Tech experts were shocked. Even US President Donald Trump called it a “wake-up call” for American companies.
But the real shocker? Nvidia, the world’s biggest chipmaker, lost almost $600 billion in market value in a single day because of DeepSeek’s success! That’s the biggest one-day loss in US history. Why? Because DeepSeek claims it was built using fewer advanced chips, proving that companies don’t need expensive Nvidia chips to make cutting-edge AI. That scared investors big time.
For years, OpenAI has been the king of AI chatbots, with ChatGPT leading the way. But DeepSeek is now being seen as China’s answer to OpenAI. And the fact that it was built for just $6 million, compared to the billions spent by OpenAI, makes it even more impressive. OpenAI spends approximately $700,000 daily to run ChatGPT, reported Economic Times.
Washington has tried to slow down China’s AI development by banning the export of advanced Nvidia chips to Chinese companies. But DeepSeek’s founder, Liang Wenfeng, found a way around it. He reportedly stockpiled thousands of Nvidia A100 chips before the ban and combined them with cheaper, less powerful chips to build DeepSeek’s AI. And it worked brilliantly.
As people are expressing their shock and excitement all at once, meme-enthusiasts have taken over X to share a laugh regarding the whole incident. Have a look:
“OpenAI huh? $500B? Gimme 2 weeks and $5 million and I’ll clone it asap” – DeepSeek’s CTO pic.twitter.com/yvV4QmkEU0
— litquidity (@litcapital) January 27, 2025
“It’s a side project. I call it DeepSeek.” pic.twitter.com/n1H1KddeFA
— Jack Forge (@TheJackForge) January 25, 2025
When everyone is worried about DeepSeek but you work for a company that’s still stuck in 2005. pic.twitter.com/9w1fGza6Gp
— Jack Forge (@TheJackForge) January 27, 2025
Ok Claude, please use DeepSeek-r1 to build me a billion dollar SaaS. Make no mistakes pic.twitter.com/9RXiSYcJN3
— anton (@abacaj) January 27, 2025
Deepseek caused the U.S. stock market to crash $1,000,000,000,000 pic.twitter.com/90dIgu5UDk
— AdviceFromLouis (@AdviceFromLouis) January 27, 2025
#DeepSeek pic.twitter.com/0EKKOMPRkG
— Masum.momen (@mutasimmomen1) January 22, 2025
DEEPSEEK WAS ABLE TO BUILD THIS IN A CAVE
WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS pic.twitter.com/Z076GjC8uR
— Aarush Sah (@AarushSah_) January 23, 2025
So, is DeepSeek the future of AI? Will China overtake the US in the AI race?