Two weeks after its official release, the artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek China-based app surpassed ChatGPT to become the number one free app in the US App Store.
DeepSeek has reportedly achieved this milestone in multiple countries, including the US, sparking a debate about global competition in artificial intelligence. DeepSeek is powered by the DeepSeek-V3 model and has gained widespread popularity, according to data from Sensor Tower, an app analytics firm.
DeepSeek claims that the DeepSeek-V3 model is a powerful artificial intelligence model that outperforms the most advanced models in the world.
The Chinese AI startup behind DeepSeek was founded by hedge fund manager Liang Wenfeng in 2023, who reportedly used just 2.048 NVIDIA H800s and less than $6 million — a relatively low sum in the AI industry — to train the model with 671 billion parameters.
This is a pittance compared to what OpenAI and Google spend to train their respective artificial intelligence models.
This news raises many questions about the effectiveness of the US government's restrictions on the export of advanced chips to China. These chips are important for training AI models and are used by both the US-based ChatGPT and the Chinese DeepSeek.
Before the Trump administration, the Biden administration in the US imposed strict regulations on the export of high-tech chips to China. These controls were aimed at slowing down China’s artificial intelligence. However, it appears that DeepSeek has found a way to train its models using less advanced chips than the banned versions. However, some experts question the accuracy of DeepSeek’s claims about the chips and the cost involved in training its AI models.
Other Chinese companies like Baidu have developed AI models, but DeepSeek’s success in the US has set it apart. Earlier, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen told X (formerly Twitter): “DeepSeek R1 is one of the most amazing and impressive discoveries I’ve ever seen — and as open source, it’s a great gift to the world.”
George is still wondering what he is doing here….
