DeepSeek, a mobile AI application developed in China, has surpassed OpenAI's ChatGPT to claim the top spot on the iPhone free app charts in both China and the United States. This achievement comes shortly after the release of DeepSeek's \"reasoning model,\" DeepSeek R1.
When users activate the \"DeepThink (R1)\" mode, the app displays its \"thinking process\" before generating responses, allowing it to tackle complex logical and mathematical problems. According to the company's official website, the R1 model's performance is \"on par with\" OpenAI-o1, while its operational cost is approximately one-thirtieth of its competitor's.
DeepSeek is currently free for general users, with only API calls for programmers requiring payment. The company has also made its full-size model available for free download, enabling users with sufficient hardware to run it locally. For those with less powerful devices, scaled-down versions optimized for various hardware configurations are offered.
In addition to providing free access to its models, DeepSeek has published a research paper detailing the development of R1, allowing other developers to replicate the process using their own training data.
The AI Community Reacts
The release of the R1 model has garnered significant attention within the AI industry, eliciting reactions from prominent figures.
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 \"non-U.S. company\" that is upholding OpenAI's original mission of conducting \"truly open, frontier research that empowers all.\"
Yann LeCun, Meta's chief AI scientist, emphasized that DeepSeek's success does not signify one country surpassing another in AI development but rather highlights how \"open-source models are surpassing proprietary ones.\"
Kai-Fu Lee, former president of Google China, expressed a sense of vindication, stating that the DeepSeek releases validate his belief in China's potential to excel in generative AI engineering.
DeepSeek CEO on Innovation in China
In a July 2024 interview with 36kr.com, DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng argued that China must move beyond the stereotype of merely applying innovations from the United States. As the country's economy grows, he believes it should transition into a global contributor to innovation rather than relying on advancements from elsewhere.
Liang emphasized that innovation stems not only from the pursuit of business success but also from genuine curiosity. He revealed that the DeepSeek team is composed of young talent and that the development of the company's earlier V2 model did not involve any overseas Chinese contributors.
\"Perhaps the top 50 talents in this field are not in China,\" Liang told 36kr.com. \"But we can cultivate our own.\"
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
