DeepSeek, officially known as Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd., is a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.
Founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, who also serves as its CEO, the company is solely funded by the Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer.
In January 2025, DeepSeek released its first free chatbot application, which quickly surpassed ChatGPT as the most-downloaded free app on the iOS App Store in the United States. This rapid ascent led to a significant impact on the stock market, with Nvidia’s share price dropping by 18%.
DeepSeek’s AI model performs tasks at a level comparable to ChatGPT but was developed at a fraction of the cost and with fewer resources. This efficiency challenges the prevailing notion that advanced AI development requires substantial financial and computational investments.
The company’s success has been described as “upending AI” and marks “the first shot at what is emerging as a global AI space race.”
DeepSeek has made its generative AI chatbot open source, allowing developers worldwide to access, modify, and utilize the source code and design documents. This openness fosters innovation and collaboration within the AI community.
The emergence of DeepSeek has significant implications for the global tech industry. It challenges established AI development paradigms, potentially democratizing access to advanced AI technologies. However, it also raises concerns about the geopolitical dynamics of AI advancement, particularly regarding China’s role in the global AI landscape.
In summary, DeepSeek represents a pivotal development in artificial intelligence, highlighting the potential for efficient, cost-effective AI solutions and prompting a reevaluation of global AI strategies.
