The real reason behind the DeepSeek hype, according to AI experts

CNN — DeepSeek turned the tech world on its head last month – and for good reason, according to artificial intelligence experts, who say we’re likely only seeing the beginning of the Chinese tech startup’s influence on the AI field.

DeepSeek grabbed headlines in late January with its R1 AI model, which the company says can roughly match the performance of Open AI’s o1 model at a fraction of the cost. Tech stocks tumbled as DeepSeek briefly unseated ChatGPT to become the top app in Apple’s App Store.

The achievement pushed US tech behemoths to question America’s standing in the AI race against China – and the billions of dollars behind those efforts. While Vice President JD Vance didn’t mention DeepSeek or China by name in his remarks at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris on Tuesday, he certainly emphasized how big of a priority it is for the United States to lead the sector.

“The United States of America is the leader in AI, and our administration plans to keep it that way,” he said, although he added that “America wants to partner” with other countries.

But it’s not just DeepSeek’s efficiency and power. The way DeepSeek R1 can reason and “think” through answers to provide quality results, along with the company’s decision to make key parts of its technology publicly available, will also push the field forward, experts say.

While AI has long been used in tech products, it’s reached a flashpoint over the last two years thanks to the rise of ChatGPT and other generative AI services that have reshaped the way people work, communicate and find information. It’s made Wall Street darlings out of companies like chipmaker Nvidia and upended the trajectory of Silicon Valley giants. So any development that can help build more capable and efficient models is sure to be closely watched.