DeepSeek, a mobile AI application developed in China, has soared past OpenAI's ChatGPT to claim the top position on the iPhone free app charts in both China and the United States. This achievement follows the recent launch of its \"reasoning model,\" DeepSeek R1.
When users activate the \"DeepThink (R1)\" mode, the app showcases its \"thinking process\" before providing responses, enabling it to address complex logical and mathematical problems. According to DeepSeek's official website, the R1 model's performance is comparable to OpenAI-o1, while operating at approximately one-thirtieth of its rival's cost.
The mobile app and web chatbot are currently free for general use, with only API calls for programmers requiring payment. Additionally, DeepSeek has made its full-size model available for free download, allowing users with sufficient hardware to run it locally. For devices with less computing power, the company offers scaled-down versions of the model, optimized for everything from ultra-thin laptops to high-performance gaming rigs.
Beyond providing free access to its models, DeepSeek has also published a research paper detailing the development of R1, enabling other developers to replicate the process using their own training data.
Global Reactions to DeepSeek's R1 Model
The release of the R1 model has garnered significant attention from the AI community, with industry leaders expressing their thoughts on this development.
Marc Andreessen, venture capitalist and co-founder of Netscape, described DeepSeek R1 as \"one of the most amazing and impressive breakthroughs\" he has ever seen, calling it \"a profound gift to the world.\"
Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, noted that \"DeepSeek has largely replicated OpenAI-o1-mini and has open-sourced it.\"
Jim Fan, a senior research manager at Nvidia, praised DeepSeek as a company that is upholding the mission of conducting \"truly open, frontier research that empowers all.\"
Yann LeCun, Meta's chief AI scientist, highlighted that DeepSeek's success underscores how \"open-source models are surpassing proprietary ones.\"
Kai-Fu Lee, former president of Google China, expressed satisfaction, stating that the DeepSeek releases validate his belief in China's potential to excel in generative AI engineering.
DeepSeek's Vision for Innovation
In an interview with 36kr.com, DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng emphasized the importance of innovation for China. He argued that as the country's economy grows, it should transition into a global contributor to innovation rather than relying on advancements from elsewhere.
Liang highlighted that innovation stems from genuine curiosity and not solely from the pursuit of business success. He also revealed that the DeepSeek team comprises young talent and that the development of the company's earlier V2 model did not involve any overseas contributors.
\"Perhaps the top 50 talents in this field are not in China,\" Liang stated. \"But we can cultivate our own.\"
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
