DeepSeek's new AI assistant app is the top free app on the Apple App Store
Chinese AI company DeepSeek has achieved significant success on the Apple App Store with its AI assistant app becoming the top free app, surpassing competitors like ChatGPT. DeepSeek's R1 model has shown impressive performance in AI benchmarks, often outperforming even OpenAI's latest o1 model. What's more, DeepSeek has revealed that the cost of training its R1 model was only $5.6 million, a fraction of what other companies typically spend on training their AI models.
Unique Approach to AI Training
Despite US sanctions limiting the availability of high-powered AI chips in China, DeepSeek has taken a different approach to powering its AI training at a lower cost. The company uses NVIDIA H100 AI GPUs for some of its training processes. However, DeepSeek's founder and CEO Liang Wenfeng has acknowledged that US export restrictions continue to pose challenges for the company.
Industry Reactions
Curai CEO Neal Khosla has raised concerns about DeepSeek, suggesting that it may be part of a larger strategy by the Chinese government to undermine American AI competitiveness. However, it's worth noting that Khosla's father is an investor in OpenAI, adding a potential bias to his comments.
Impressive Model Capabilities
DeepSeek's new R1 model boasts a staggering 671 billion parameters, making it one of the largest AI models in existence. The company also offers smaller "distilled" versions of the R1 model, with parameter counts ranging from 1.5 billion to 70 billion. While the smallest R1 model can run on a laptop, the full-force version requires more robust hardware. Despite this, DeepSeek provides access to the R1 model through its API at prices that significantly undercut competitors like OpenAI.
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