{"id":825680,"date":"2025-02-09T10:13:22","date_gmt":"2025-02-09T16:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/09\/chinese-ai-chatbot-soars-to-top-of-app-download-charts-and-sends-shock-waves-through-us-tech\/"},"modified":"2025-02-09T10:13:22","modified_gmt":"2025-02-09T16:13:22","slug":"chinese-ai-chatbot-soars-to-top-of-app-download-charts-and-sends-shock-waves-through-us-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/09\/chinese-ai-chatbot-soars-to-top-of-app-download-charts-and-sends-shock-waves-through-us-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese AI chatbot soars to top of app download charts and sends shock waves through US tech"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Deepseek logo displayed on smartphone. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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artifical intelligence<\/span><\/p>\n

Donald Trump said DeepSeek was a \u2018wake up call\u2019 for US firms, after its emergence caused a rout in tech shares.<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n LAST UPDATE<\/span>
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\n 28 Jan<\/span>\n <\/p>\n

CHINESE FIRM DEEPSEEK\u2019S artificial intelligence chatbot has soared to the top of the Apple Store\u2019s and Google Play\u2019s download charts, displacing market leader ChatGPT.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a move that has stunned industry insiders and analysts with its ability to match its US competitors.<\/p>\n

The programme has shaken up the tech industry and hit US titans including Nvidia, the AI chip juggernaut, that saw\u00a0nearly $600 billion of its market value erased, the most ever for one day on Wall Street.<\/p>\n

Overall, more than $1 trillion was wiped off the value<\/a> of US tech stocks.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

So what is DeepSeek?<\/h3>\n

DeepSeek was developed by a start-up based in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, known for its high density of tech firms.<\/p>\n

Available as an app or on desktop, DeepSeek can do many of the things that its Western competitors can do \u2013 write song lyrics, help work on a personal development plan, or even write a recipe for dinner based on what\u2019s in the fridge.<\/p>\n

It can communicate in multiple languages, though it is strongest in English and Chinese.<\/p>\n

However, it is subject to many of the limitations seen in other Chinese-made chatbots \u2013 asked about leader Xi Jinping or Beijing\u2019s policies in the western region of Xinjiang, it implored the user to \u201ctalk about something else\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"edinburgh-uk-27th-jan-2024-person-using-deepseek-app-on-a-smartphone-success-of-new-artificial-intelligence-chinese-chatbot-deepseek-causes-tech-stocks-to-plunge-worldwide-the-new-chatbot-threat\"
\n To test censorship in the app, several questions were asked and each time a censored answer was provided Alamy Stock Photo<\/span>
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\n Alamy Stock Photo<\/span>
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\u201cI am an AI assistant designed to provide helpful and harmless responses,\u201d it explained.<\/p>\n

But from writing complex code to solving difficult sums, industry insiders have been astonished by just how well DeepSeek\u2019s abilities match the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve found is that DeepSeek\u2026 is the top performing, or roughly on par with the best American models,\u201d Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI, told CNBC.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all the more surprising given what is known about how it was made.<\/p>\n

In a paper detailing its development, the firm said the model was trained using only a fraction of the chips used by its Western competitors.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sputnik moment\u2019? <\/b><\/h3>\n

Analysts had long thought that the United States\u2019 critical advantage over China when it comes to producing high-powered chips \u2013 and its ability to prevent the Asian power from accessing the technology \u2013 would give it the edge in the AI race.<\/p>\n

But DeepSeek researchers said they spent only $5.6 million (\u20ac5.4m) developing the latest iteration of their model \u2013 peanuts when compared with the billions US tech giants have poured into AI, primarily on expensive Nvidia chips and software.<\/p>\n

The development is significant given the AI boom, ignited by ChatGPT\u2019s release in late 2022, which propelled Nvidia to become one of the world\u2019s most valuable companies.<\/p>\n

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Just published: front page of the Financial Times, UK edition, Tuesday 29 January https:\/\/t.co\/ZYXv0Gvxl4<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/cOdcUSnDXQ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Financial Times (@FT) January 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But shares in major tech firms in the United States and Japan tumbled as the industry takes stock of the challenge from DeepSeek.<\/p>\n

Chip making giant Nvidia \u2013 the world\u2019s dominant supplier of AI hardware and software \u2013 closed down 17% on Wall Street yesterday.<\/p>\n

And Japanese firm SoftBank, a key investor in US President Donald Trump\u2019s announcement of a new $500 billion venture to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence in the United States, fell almost 6% after dropping 8.3% yesterday.<\/p>\n

\"deepseek-ai-assistant-app-seen-on-the-smartphone-and-the-company-website-on-the-blurred-background-stafford-united-kingdom-january-26-2025\"
\n DeepSeek seen on the smartphone and the company website on the blurred background. Alamy Stock Photo<\/span>
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Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, a close advisor to Trump, described it as \u201cAI\u2019s Sputnik moment\u201d \u2013 a reference to the Soviet satellite launch that sparked the Cold War space race.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeepSeek R1 is one of the most amazing and impressive breakthroughs I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n

\u2018Wake up call\u2019<\/h3>\n

US President Donald Trump said DeepSeek was a \u201cwake up call\u201d for US firms, after its emergence caused a rout in tech shares.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, the release of DeepSeek AI from a Chinese company should be a wake up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win,\u201d Trump told a Republican congressional retreat in Miami yesterday.<\/p>\n

But Trump said the shock could also be \u201cpositive\u201d for Silicon Valley by forcing it to innovate more cheaply.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that could be a positive,\u201d Trump said. \u201cSo instead of spending billions and billions, you\u2019ll spend less, and you\u2019ll come up with hopefully the same solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open source model<\/b><\/h3>\n

Like its Western competitors Chat-GPT and Meta\u2019s Llama, DeepSeek uses a large-language model (LLM) \u2013 massive quantities of texts to train its everyday language use.<\/p>\n

But unlike Silicon Valley rivals, which have developed proprietary LLMs, DeepSeek is open source, meaning anyone can access the app\u2019s code, see how it works and modify it themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are living in a timeline where a non-US company is keeping the original mission of OpenAI alive \u2013 truly open, frontier research that empowers all,\u201d Jim Fan, a senior research manager at Nvidia, wrote on X.<\/p>\n

OpenAI is behind Chat-GPT and its chief executive Sam Altman has praised the recent debut of DeepSeek\u2019s AI model, saying it was \u201cinvigorating to have a new competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n

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deepseek’s r1 is an impressive model, particularly around what they’re able to deliver for the price.<\/p>\n

we will obviously deliver much better models and also it’s legit invigorating to have a new competitor! we will pull up some releases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014 Sam Altman (@sama) January 28, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In a social media post, Altman called DeepSeek\u2019s R1 \u201can impressive model, particularly around what they\u2019re able to deliver for the price.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeepSeek said it \u201ctops the leaderboard among open-source models\u201d \u2013 and \u201crivals the most advanced closed-source models globally\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018Great things\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n

Beijing\u2019s leadership has vowed to be the world leader in AI technology by 2030 and is projected to spend tens of billions in support for the industry over the next few years.<\/p>\n

And the success of DeepSeek suggests that Chinese firms may have begun leaping the hurdles placed in their way.<\/p>\n

Last week DeepSeek\u2019s founder, hedge fund manager Liang Wenfeng, sat alongside other entrepreneurs at a symposium with Chinese Premier Li Qiang \u2013 highlighting the firm\u2019s rapid rise.<\/p>\n

Privacy and data concerns<\/h3>\n

Fianna F\u00e1il TD Malcolm Byrne has said Irish citizens and businesses \u201cneed to be careful if they decide to use Deepseek\u201d.<\/p>\n

He voiced concerns that any data shared with the app will be stored on servers based in China.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf our data is stored in Ireland or other parts of the European Union, there are strong safeguards in place as to how that data will be used,\u201d said Byrne.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf data is stored in China, those safeguards does not exist.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chinese Communist Party can use its National Security Law to access this data.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeepseek\u2019s privacy policy provides that any personal information gathered through using its product may be stored on servers based in China.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byrne added that \u201cthe potential for misuse of the technology and of data collected is huge\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said it\u2019s important for the Government to have a clear strategy on AI use and called for a special Oireachtas Committee on AI and for a programme of education on AI and Technology to be rolled out across the public service, as well as for TDs and Senators.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Australia\u2019s science minister Ed Husic aised privacy concerns over DeepSeek, urging users to think carefully before downloading it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of questions that will need to be answered in time on quality, consumer preferences, data and privacy management,\u201d Husic told national broadcaster ABC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be very careful about that. These type of issues need to be weighed up carefully.\u201d<\/p>\n

Husic said Chinese companies sometimes differed from Western rivals when it came to user privacy and data management.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chinese are very good at developing products that work very well. That market is accustomed to their approaches on data and privacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe minute you export it to markets where consumers have different expectations around privacy and data management, the questions is whether those products will be embraced in the same way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you have to be careful, I\u2019m just being completely frank and direct on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia in 2018 banned Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from its national 5G network, citing national security concerns.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a9 AFP 2025<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Dion Howe
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deepseek logo displayed on smartphone. artifical intelligence Donald Trump said DeepSeek was a \u2018wake up call\u2019 for US firms, after its emergence caused a rout in tech shares. LAST UPDATE | 28 Jan CHINESE FIRM DEEPSEEK\u2019S artificial intelligence chatbot has soared to the top of the Apple Store\u2019s and Google Play\u2019s download charts, displacing market<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":825681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36170,933],"tags":[111692,6623],"class_list":{"0":"post-825680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chatbot","8":"category-chinese","9":"tag-chatbot","10":"tag-chinese"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}