Subscribe now

Analysis and Technology

Why China's DeepSeek is threatening to disrupt the AI industry

The new AI model from China's DeepSeek performs on a level with leading US models without requiring as much computing power – but despite a huge drop in their stock, it's not game over for US tech companies

By Jeremy Hsu

27 January 2025

DeepSeek’s R1 model is available for free

Lam Yik/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The China-based AI company DeepSeek sent shock waves through both Silicon Valley and Wall Street by releasing an AI model that competes with the best US ones but was made at a fraction of the cost. Although the news has sparked a sell-off of tech stocks and prompted venture capitalist Marc Andreessen to describe the results as “AI’s Sputnik moment”, this open-source AI is not as revolutionary as it seems.

Over the past year, AI models from companies such as OpenAI, Google and Meta have become capable…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, subscribe today with our introductory offers

Popular articles

Trending New Scientist articles

Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop