DeepSeek’s release of an artificial intelligence model that could replicate the performance of OpenAI’s o1 at a fraction of the cost has stunned investors and analysts. Markets reeled as Nvidia, a microchip and AI firm, shed more than $500bn in market value in a record one-day loss for any company on Wall Street. Investors feared that DeepSeek challenged the dominance of US AI leaders.
Donald Trump described DeepSeek as a “wake-up call”. In China, DeepSeek’s founder, Liang Wenfeng, has been hailed as a national hero and was invited to attend a symposium chaired by China’s premier, Li Qiang. The pace at which China has been able to catch up with frontier AI research in the US is accelerating.
