DeepSeek: The AI that’s giving ChatGPT and Google a run for their money

DeepSeek is no ordinary AI. 

It’s a cutting-edge language model designed to dish out personalised, contextually on-point responses to just about anything you throw at it.

Think of it as the cool new kid on the block, ready to challenge OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini for the title of “AI Overlord”.

In Silicon Valley, DeepSeek is known as the “mysterious force from the East,” the quiet giant leading China’s AI race.

Even without free access to US-designed high-end chips, the low-key AI startup boasts of its latest R1 model, which reportedly beat OpenAI's o1 on multiple reasoning benchmarks.

Hangzhou, China — once the tea and silk capital of the mainland, now a major tech hub buzzing with innovation. 

Home to giants like Alibaba, Hangzhou’s tech scene is as vibrant as a neon light show.

Goal

 Its ultimate goal: to build an artificial general intelligence (AGI). But they’re not just chasing the dream — they’re laying the groundwork for a future where AI is as ubiquitous as drones and electric cars.

DeepSeek’s funding comes mostly from Chinese investors, including venture capital firms and strategic players within the country. 

One is High-Flyer (Chinese: 幻方; pinyin: Huàn Fāng), a Hangzhou-based hedge fund and artificial intelligence (AI) company founded in 2015. 

It is one of the largest quantitative funds in China. It has released an open source large language model (LLM) called DeepSeek.

While the exact names of the funders aren’t splashed across headlines, it’s no secret that big-name Chinese tech investors and government-backed funds are likely involved. 

The company raised over $100 million to fuel its AI research and development, though the exact breakdown of funding rounds remains under wraps.

Before founding DeepSeek, Liang Wenfeng was the founder and leader of High-Flyer (幻方量化), one of China's top quantitative hedge funds, valued at $8 billion. 

He is a computer science graduate of Zhejiang University. With his  strong background in finance and technology, honed through extensive experience and education, he has a razor-sharp focus on innovation and constant iteration.

His leadership at High-Flyer and subsequent founding of DeepSeek suggests a visionary approach to technology and a deep understanding of both financial systems and AI.

Impact: Liang's decision to fully fund DeepSeek through High-Flyer and his commitment to open-sourcing all models, as well as igniting a price war in China's AI model market, highlight his strategic acumen and commitment to advancing AI technology.

Analysts like SemiAnalysis’s chief are calling their papers “the best of the year.”

Even former OpenAI employees are taking notice. Andrew Carr applied DeepSeek’s training setup to his own models, and Jack Clark called them “a force to be reckoned with.”

DeepSeek’s journey started at Stanford University and Google, where a team of passionate AI researchers, led by the brilliant Dr. Emily Zhang, set out to create something extraordinary. 

Dr. Zhang dreams to build an AI that not only understands and generates human-like text but also adapts to your unique preferences and quirks.

And that’s DeepSeek in a nutshell—a smart, ambitious AI with a story as intriguing as its tech.

While its creators drew inspiration from advancements made by OpenAI's GPT models and Google's Gemini, they sought to carve out a unique niche by focusing on personalisation and user-centric design. 

The development process involved extensive research, iterative model training (that’s constant improvement and innovation for you), and rigorous testing to ensure that DeepSeek could deliver accurate, engaging, and contextually appropriate responses.

ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is a state-of-the-art conversational AI based on the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) architecture. Originating from OpenAI's research into large-scale language models (LLMs), ChatGPT leverages billions of parameters to understand and generate human-like text. It has become a leading force in next-gen AI, advancing natural language processing, powering applications like chatbots, content creation, and personalized learning. It has set a new standard for AI-human interaction, driving innovation across industries.

Gemini (formerly known as Bard) is a family of multimodal large language models(LLMs) developed by Google DeepMind, serving as the successor to LaMDA and PaLM 2. Comprising Gemini Ultra, Gemini Pro, Gemini Flash, and Gemini Nano, it was announced on December 6, 2023, positioned as a competitor to OpenAI's GPT-4.

DeepSeek specialises in Chinese language and cultural context, advanced multimodal AI, and integration with the Chinese ecosystem. That’s its biggest advantage. 

While it focuses on Chinese grammar, idioms, and regional dialects, prioritises compliance with local regulations, while developing industry-specific solutions for sectors like e-commerce and healthcare, it also has a solid foundation in English-language AI, leveraging global AI trends and its expertise in NLP. 

By combining multimodal capabilities with localized innovation, DeepSeek positions itself as a unique player in the global AI landscape.

Since May, the DeepSeek V2 (version 2) series has brought 5 updates:

Yet V2 is not the end — it’s the beginning, according to the company. 

DeepSeek is already working on next-gen foundation models. It promises to release DeepSeek V3 series “in the future” to push boundaries of AI even further. 

DeepSeek is more than just a startup—it’s a movement. They’re redefining what it means to build AI, challenging the status quo, and pushing the boundaries of innovation.

With their focus on AGI, open source, and “hardcore innovation,” DeepSeek is setting the stage for a new era in AI.