DeepSeek, an artificial intelligence-based chatbot application from China is predicted to be a new competitor to major platforms such as ChatGPT and Meta AI. Since its launch in 2023, DeepSeek has been in the top position as the most downloaded application on the App Store in the United States, United Kingdom, and China
Moreover, this application has launched the latest open source model, namely DeepSeek-R1. This model is claimed to be the main competitor of OpenAI and Google in various important aspects, such as mathematical reasoning, code efficiency, and operational costs.
Although still relatively new, DeepSeek has become a topic of conversation in the tech world due to the innovation in the AI models they develop. With less than 200 employees, the company is able to deliver efficient and high-performance language models at a lower cost than its competitors. So, what exactly is DeepSeek? Here's the review.
What is the History of DeepSeek?
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| What is the History of DeepSeek? |
DeepSeek was born from its parent company, High-Flyer, which was founded in 2016. High-Flyer initially focused on AI-based stock trading using deep learning and GPUs. In 2021, the company fully shifted to AI-based trading without human intervention.
In April 2023, High-Flyer established an AI research lab with the aim of developing AI models separate from their financial business. A few months later, in July 2023, the lab developed into an independent company called DeepSeek.
What is the DeepSeek AI model?
DeepSeek has developed a series of increasingly sophisticated AI models, starting from DeepSeek Coder to DeepSeek V3. Each model shows significant performance improvements and remarkable resource optimization. Since its founding, DeepSeek has released various innovative AI models, including:
- DeepSeek Coder (November 2023): The first released series of models focused on programming, freely available to researchers and commercial users under the MIT license.
- DeepSeek LLM (November 2023): A series of 7B and 67B parameter models developed to compete with other LLMs, showing higher benchmark results than most open source LLMs at the time.
- DeepSeek V2 (May 2024): Delivers a breakthrough in architecture with multi-head latent attention (MLA) and mixture of experts (MoE) implementations, offering high performance at a lower cost.
- DeepSeek V3 (December 2024): A model with 671 billion parameters trained in just 55 days at a cost of US$5.58 million, demonstrating remarkable efficiency in resource use.
One of the most prominent models of DeepSeek is DeepSeek-V2, which has a total of 236 billion parameters with 21 billion parameters enabled for each token. This model supports a context length of up to 128 thousand tokens and adopts innovative architectures such as:
- Multi-head Latent Attention (MLA) – A technology that allows more efficient information storage by compressing the Key-Value (KV) cache into a latent vector.
- DeepSeekMoE – A MoE-based model structure that allows for more optimal learning with lower power consumption.
Is DeepSeek really that efficient?
One of the factors that makes DeepSeek stand out in the AI industry is its ability to develop AI models at a much lower cost than its competitors. For example, the DeepSeek R1 model is claimed to have been developed at a cost of only around 6 million US dollars, while OpenAI's GPT-4 required around 100 million US dollars.
In addition, DeepSeek is also known to be more efficient in computing power consumption. Their AI model uses only about one-tenth the computing power of similar models developed by Meta, such as LLaMA 3.1. This makes DeepSeek a more efficient and environmentally friendly solution in the development of artificial intelligence.
How does DeepSeek affect the Global AI industry?
The presence of DeepSeek has changed the dynamics of competition in the AI industry, especially in the United States. With more cost-effective and energy-efficient technology, DeepSeek helps smaller companies compete in the AI field, which was previously dominated by giant companies such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta.
The launch of the DeepSeek R1 model even caused a major impact on the stock market, especially for companies that rely on AI chip sales, such as Nvidia. It is estimated that DeepSeek's more efficient AI model will reduce demand for expensive AI hardware, thus affecting stock prices in the technology and energy sectors.
Also, DeepSeek AI’s success has sent shockwaves through the global tech industry. The company has not only challenged the dominance of American AI models but also proven that world-class AI development can be achieved with far less resources.
One of the most significant impacts of DeepSeek’s success was the shock it caused to the global tech stock market. On January 27, 2025, the announcement of DeepSeek R1’s capabilities caused a drastic drop in the value of leading tech companies’ stocks, including Nvidia, which fell 18%, Microsoft, which fell 2.5%, and Alphabet (Google’s parent) dropped more than 4%.
More than just an economic impact, DeepSeek’s success has changed the global perception of US technological dominance in AI development. Leading media outlets such as The Hill even called the launch of DeepSeek’s chatbot a “Sputnik moment” for American AI, referring to the historic moment when the Soviet Union surprised the US by launching the first satellite into Earth orbit.
The implications of DeepSeek’s breakthrough also challenge the effectiveness of US sanctions on AI chip exports to China. The company's ability to achieve results on par with big players like OpenAI and Google using far more limited resources suggests that technological restrictions may not be as strong as expected in hampering the development of AI in China.
What is the problem of DeepSeek?
Despite its many advantages, DeepSeek also faces a number of challenges, especially related to security and regulation. Several governments, including the state of New York in the United States, have banned the use of DeepSeek applications on government networks and devices due to concerns about data security.
Additionally, reports suggest that DeepSeek employs former employees of Microsoft Research Asia, raising concerns that this advanced AI technology could contribute to the development of artificial intelligence under the supervision of the Chinese government.
Despite its impressive success, DeepSeek faces some significant challenges. The restriction of new users to mainland Chinese phone numbers following a cyberattack in January 2025 highlights a security vulnerability that needs to be addressed. Furthermore, market skepticism about claims of extremely low development costs still needs to be proven with further transparency.
However, DeepSeek’s future prospects remain promising. The company has already garnered interest from major companies such as AWS, Toyota, and Stripe who have expressed interest in using its model, indicating potential for wider adoption in the future.
DeepSeek’s success also opens up new possibilities in the democratization of AI technology. By proving that world-class AI models can be developed at a much lower cost, DeepSeek may have paved the way for more innovators and developers to enter the global AI arena.
DeepSeek AI has proven itself to be a significant player in the global AI landscape, posing a serious challenge to US technological dominance while opening up new possibilities for more efficient and affordable AI development. Their success shows that technological innovation does not always depend on abundant resources, but rather on creativity, efficiency, and the right approach to technology development.
As AI technology continues to advance and global competition intensifies, DeepSeek will likely continue to play a significant role in shaping the future of AI. Their ability to achieve results on par with the big boys using far fewer resources may change the way the industry views AI development in the future.
What are the future plans for DeepSeek?
Currently, DeepSeek is still focused on research and has not announced plans to commercialize their models widely. This strategy allows DeepSeek to avoid the Chinese government's strict regulations on consumer-oriented AI technology.
In terms of recruitment, DeepSeek has a unique approach, emphasizing technical skills over work experience. They also recruit individuals from various backgrounds, not just computer science, to help their AI models better understand various fields of knowledge.
Can DeepSeek be trusted?
User data security is a top priority in technologies like DeepSeek. Typically, these technologies come with an encryption system that protects your personal information. However, as a user, you also need to be careful about sharing sensitive data when using any platform.
Conclusion
DeepSeek has emerged as a major player in the artificial intelligence world, offering efficient AI models at low costs, while also presenting new challenges to the dominance of Western AI companies. With an innovative approach to developing large language models and incredible efficiency, the company has the potential to become one of the leaders in the global AI industry.
However, challenges related to regulation and data security are still things to watch. How DeepSeek will develop in the future and how it will impact the global AI industry competition are still interesting questions to follow.
