Chinese advances like DeepSeek have ‘narrowed’ AI gap with U.S., says CSIS think tank: ‘Unrealistic to expect a lead of more than a year or two’

(Credit: VCG via Getty Images)

China’s technological advances have “narrowed” the U.S. headstart in AI and semiconductors and it’s now “unrealistic” for an advantage to last more than a few years, warns a U.S. think tank, as the Chinese startup DeepSeek rattles U.S. markets with its efficient and powerful AI models.

In late January, DeepSeek’s R1 model sent U.S. tech shares into freefall as investors questioned the billions of dollars in capital being poured into AI development. At one point, DeepSeek’s chatbot overtook OpenAI’s ChatGPT as the most downloaded free app on the U.S. app store.