In a surprising turn of events, DeepSeek, a mobile AI application developed in China, has overtaken 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 its latest \"reasoning model,\" DeepSeek R1.
When users activate the \"DeepThink (R1)\" mode, the app showcases its \"thinking process\" before generating responses, enabling it to tackle complex logical and mathematical problems. According to DeepSeek's official website, the R1 model's performance is \"on par with\" OpenAI-o1, yet operates at approximately one-thirtieth of the cost.
The mobile app and web chatbot are currently available for free general use, with only API calls for programmers requiring payment. Furthermore, DeepSeek has made its full-size model accessible for free download, allowing users with sufficient hardware to run it locally. For devices with less processing power, the company offers scaled-down versions optimized for everything from ultra-thin laptops to high-performance gaming rigs.
In addition to providing free access to its models, DeepSeek has published a research paper detailing the development of R1, enabling other developers to replicate the process using their own training data.
Industry Reactions
The release of the R1 model has generated significant buzz within the AI community, drawing reactions from prominent figures in the industry.
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, commended 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, emphasized that DeepSeek's success 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.
China's Role in Global Innovation
In a July 2024 interview, DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng argued that China must move beyond the stereotype of merely applying innovations from other countries. He emphasized that as China's economy grows, it should transition into a global contributor to innovation.
\"Innovation stems not only from the pursuit of business success but also from genuine curiosity,\" Liang said. 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 contributors.
\"Perhaps the top 50 talents in this field are not in China,\" Liang acknowledged. \"But we can cultivate our own.\"
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
