What is DeepSeek and how does it compare to ChatGPT? Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is limiting new registrations for its AI service, citing “large-scale malicious attacks” on its platform.
The emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI that can allegedly go toe-to-toe with US giant ChatGPT, has rattled global markets. On Monday, US stock indices took a nosedive as jittery investors dumped tech stocks, spooked by fears that AI development costs had spiralled out of control.
The buzz around the Chinese bot has hit a fever pitch, with tech heavyweights weighing in. On Monday, Elon Musk poured cold water on DeepSeek’s claims of building its advanced models using far fewer, less powerful AI chips than its US competitors.
DeepSeek's Approach and Innovation
DeepSeek’s AI looks and functions much like ChatGPT and other large-language models. It can answer questions, generate poetry and prose, and write complex code. What sets it apart, however, is that DeepSeek claims to offer all of these functions at a level comparable to its larger rivals, and all at a significantly lower cost.
In a research paper, DeepSeek’s engineering team revealed they only needed about $6m in raw computing power to develop their new system – roughly 10 times less than Meta's investment in its latest AI technology. Notably, DeepSeek achieved all this under the constraints of strict US export controls on advanced computing tech in China.
DeepSeek's Impact on the Tech Industry
By sharing the underlying code with the wider tech community, the company is allowing other businesses, developers, and researchers to access and build upon it. It means that anyone with the right expertise can now use DeepSeek’s models to create their own products or conduct research.
Industry titans have described it as a wake-up call for the West. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen hailed the success of DeepSeek as a "Sputnik moment”, suggesting it will inject a new level of competition and innovation into the AI landscape.
DeepSeek's Team and User Experience
DeepSeek is an AI start-up that was spun off from a Chinese hedge fund called High Flyer-Quant by its manager, Liang Wenfeng. Mr Liang has credited the company’s success to its fresh-faced team of engineers and researchers. Rather than focusing on years of experience, the company prioritises raw talent, with many of its developers being recent graduates or newcomers to the AI field.
DeepSeek’s AI can be used for free on both the web and through a mobile app. Its interface is virtually identical to ChatGPT’s: Users can interact with the bot by typing text or uploading files or images. There’s also the option to enable DeepSeek’s R1 reasoning system.
Comparison with ChatGPT
Although it is a multimodal AI that can recognise various types of media, DeepSeek’s consumer-facing bot does not currently generate images or process audio. In comparison, ChatGPT offers speech recognition to all users, and an advanced voice mode for more natural conversations is available to paying members.
OpenAI has also introduced a video-generating AI called Sora in the US for subscribers.
Conclusion
DeepSeek’s impact on the tech industry and its innovative approach to AI development have positioned it as a major player in the global market. As it continues to challenge traditional norms and drive competition, the future of AI looks set to be shaped by the advancements made by companies like DeepSeek.
