DeepSeek facts for kids
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Native name
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杭州深度求索人工智能基础技术研究有限公司
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| Privately held company | |
| Industry | Information technology Artificial intelligence |
| Founded | 17 July 2023 |
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| Headquarters | Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China |
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Key people
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| Owner | High-Flyer |
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Number of employees
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Under 200 |
Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Basic Technology Research Co., Ltd., doing business as DeepSeek, is a Chinese artificial intelligence company that develops large language models (LLMs). Based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, it is owned and funded by the Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer. DeepSeek was founded in July 2023 by High-Flyer co-founder Liang Wenfeng, who also serves as the CEO for both companies. The company launched an eponymous chatbot alongside its DeepSeek-R1 model in January 2025.
Released under the MIT License, DeepSeek-R1 provides responses comparable to other contemporary large language models, such as OpenAI's GPT-4o and o1. Its training cost is reported to be significantly lower than other LLMs. The company claims that it trained its V3 model for US$6 million compared to $100 million for OpenAI's GPT-4 in 2023, and approximately one-tenth of the computing power used for Meta's comparable model, Llama 3.1. DeepSeek's success against larger and more established rivals has been described as "upending AI".
DeepSeek's models are "open weight", which provides less freedom for modification than true open-source software. The company reportedly recruits AI researchers from top Chinese universities and hires from outside the computer science field to diversify its models' knowledge and abilities.
The low cost of training and running the language model was attributed to Chinese firms' lack of access to Nvidia chipsets, which were restricted by the US as part of the ongoing trade war between the two countries. This breakthrough in reducing expenses while increasing efficiency and maintaining the model's performance in the AI industry sent "shockwaves" through the market. It threatened the dominance of AI leaders like Nvidia and contributed to the largest drop in US stock market history, with Nvidia alone losing $600 billion in market value.
Company operation
Based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, DeepSeek is owned and funded by the Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer co-founder Liang Wenfeng, who also serves as its CEO.
As of May 2024, Liang owned 84% of DeepSeek through two shell corporations.
Significance
DeepSeek's success against larger and more established rivals has been described as "upending AI".
The DeepSeek-R1 model provides responses comparable to other contemporary large language models, such as OpenAI's GPT-4o and o1. Its training cost is reported to be significantly lower than other LLMs.
The company claims that it trained R1 for US$6 million compared to $100 million for OpenAI's GPT-4 in 2023, and approximately one tenth of the computing power used for Meta's comparable model, LLaMA 3.1.
Domestically
DeepSeek models offer performance for a low price, and became the catalyst for China's AI model price war.
It was dubbed the "Pinduoduo of AI", and other Chinese tech giants such as ByteDance, Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba cut the price of their AI models. Despite its low price, it was profitable compared to its money-losing rivals.
See also
In Spanish: DeepSeek para niños
- DeepSeek (chatbot)
- Artificial intelligence industry in China
- OpenAI
