Who is behind DeepSeek?
DeepSeek was founded in December 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, and released its first AI large language model the following year.
Not much is known about Liang, who graduated from Zhejiang University with degrees in electronic information engineering and computer science. But he now finds himself in the international spotlight.
He was recently seen at a meeting hosted by China's premier Li Qiang, reflecting DeepSeek's growing prominence in the AI industry.
Unlike many American AI entrepreneurs who are from Silicon Valley, Mr Liang also has a background in finance.
He is the CEO of a hedge fund called High-Flyer, which uses AI to analyse financial data to make investment decisons - what is called quantitative trading. In 2019 High-Flyer became the first quant hedge fund in China to raise over 100 billion yuan ($13m).
In a speech he gave that year, Liang said, "If the US can develop its quantitative trading sector, why not China?"
In a rare interview last year, he said China's AI sector "cannot remain a follower forever".
He went on: "Often, we say there's a one or two-year gap between Chinese and American AI, but the real gap is between originality and imitation. If this doesn't change, China will always be a follower."
Asked why DeepSeek's model surprised so many in Silicon Valley, he said: "Their surprise stems from seeing a Chinese company join their game as an innovator, not just a follower - which is what most Chinese firms are accustomed to."
Australia's science minister has raised some doubts over the security of the app.
"There are a lot of questions that will need to be answered in time on quality, consumer preferences, data and privacy management," Ed Husic told ABC.
"I would be very careful about that. These type of issues need to be weighed up carefully."
