#DeepSeekImpact

DeepSeek is a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, a former hedge fund co-founder with a background in AI-driven quantitative trading. The company has rapidly gained attention for developing advanced AI models that rival those of established Western firms like OpenAI, but at a fraction of the cost and computational resources.

In January 2025, DeepSeek released its AI assistant, DeepSeek-R1, which quickly became the most downloaded free app on Apple's iPhone store in the United States. This model matches the capabilities of OpenAI's ChatGPT while being developed with significantly lower investment.

DeepSeek's success is attributed to its innovative approach, including the use of a "mixture of experts" technique that activates only the necessary computing resources for a given task, enhancing efficiency. Additionally, the company has embraced an open-source philosophy, making its AI models' code and technical details publicly available.

The emergence of DeepSeek has had significant impacts on the global tech industry, including a substantial decrease in Nvidia's market value and prompting established tech firms to reconsider their strategies. It also raises discussions about the shifting dynamics in the U.S.-China AI race and the potential for more democratized AI development.