US tech firms are scrambling to figure out what to make of DeepSeek, the Chinese company and its AI platform that promises to do more and cost less.
If DeepSeek's technical claims are true, it could put a severe dent in what was once seen as an insatiable desire and technical necessity to acquire graphics processing units (GPUs). Chip designer Nvidia's stock price took a dive on Monday on the news of DeepSeek.
The need for GPUs was a critical part of the prosperity experienced by companies such as Nvidia. In turn, that prosperity trickled down to energy companies powering the GPUs. This economic ecosystem had many winners, but now appears vulnerable to DeepSeek's apparently leaner AI platform, which doesn't require as many resources.
DeepSeek's app took the top spot on Apple's App Store on Monday, days after the outgoing Biden administration announced new export rules on chips designed to protect the US lead on artificial intelligence. Those regulations were criticised by Nvidia, which said the rules would “undermine US leadership” in the AI and GPU space.
One export rule stated that 18 countries would be exempt from any red tape when it came to acquiring GPUs, leaving other nations looking in when trying to build out AI infrastructure for largely non-frontier AI use cases like healthcare and science research. Yet the claims made by DeepSeek that their AI platform requires less energy and therefore less powerful GPUs appear to have rendered the new US export controls moot.
The export controls had been in the works for several administrations, including both Obama terms and Mr Trump's first term, as the US-China rivalry hit new heights. Those rules, some have argued, prompted China to try to find workarounds such as those promoted by DeepSeek.
“DeepSeek’s apparent market success shows how fragile anyone’s lead in Generative AI is – after all, as an insider at Google pointed out in 2023, there is no ‘moat',” said Andrew Rogoyski, director of innovation and partnerships at the Surrey Institute for People-Centred AI, University of Surrey. In the case of DeepSeek, the moat that the US tried to build with export controls might not even be needed.
“It also begs the question of whether massive investments like the $500 billion Stargate project are going to be necessary if clever developments if GenAI can significantly reduce the need for huge compute resources. Is this another ‘Sputnik moment’, where the US realises it might not be as dominant in a technology as it thought?” Prof Rogoyski said.
He also pointed out that for several years, creating innovations in the AI space required access to incredible amounts of computing infrastructure, more colloquially known as "compute power". Those with access to those resources were the usual Big Tech suspects such as OpenAI, Alphabet and Anthropic.
Neil Chilson, head of AI policy at The Abundance Institute and former FTC chief technologist during President Trump's first term, said that the development of DeepSeek should cause politicians to rethink their approaches to technology policy.
“Regulators and legislators at the federal, state, and even local levels are developing frameworks that would cripple US open source development,” he said. “It would be deeply ironic if a failure to protect Americans’ right to compute leaves China as the international standard for open artificial intelligence models.”
Meanwhile, in the US Congress, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer echoed the sentiments by some that DeepSeek's rapid rise was akin to a "Sputnik moment", which should prompt the US to try to maintain a competitive advantage in AI. “This announcement is precisely why I made AI a top priority in the last Congress and will continue to do so,” he said on the Senate floor.
“Our competitors are going to use every single opportunity to overtake the US lead on the technologies of the future, particularly AI, and if Congress doesn't lead the way, we're going to fall behind,” he added, making the push for more bipartisan efforts on AI.
Over on the Republican side, Rep. John Moolenaar was more direct in his assessment of the DeepSeek platform.
"DeepSeek openly erases CCP's history of atrocities and oppression," he posted to X on behalf of the congressional select committee on Chinese policy.
"The US cannot allow CCP models such as DeepSeek to risk our national security and leverage our technology to advance their AI ambitions."
Meanwhile, experts, analysts and AI rivals are looking into DeepSeek's claims regarding its efficiency, which could blow a hole in the existing AI ecosystem.
“While their work is genuinely impressive, we should avoid both alarmist reactions and complacency,” said Dean Ball, a research fellow with the Mercatus Centre, a research institute at George Mason University. “It should be a reminder that competition will be fierce, progress will be rapid, and the AI ecosystem will feel turbulent for the foreseeable future,” he added.
More on Quran memorisation:
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Zayed Sustainability Prize
More on animal trafficking
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Results
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix - 3:45:47
2. David Dekker (NED) Jumbo-Visma - same time
3. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
4. Emils Liepins (LAT) Trek-Segafredo
5. Elia Viviani (ITA) Cofidis
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLO UAE Team Emirates
7. Anthony Roux (FRA) Groupama-FDJ
8. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:00:03
9. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep
10. Fausto Masnada (ITA) Deceuninck-QuickStep
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
More coverage from the Future Forum
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More on animal trafficking
The five pillars of Islam
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
More on animal trafficking
more from Janine di Giovanni
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
EA%20Sports%20FC%2024
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20EA%20Vancouver%2C%20EA%20Romania%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20EA%20Sports%3Cbr%3EConsoles%3A%20Nintendo%20Switch%2C%20PlayStation%204%26amp%3B5%2C%20PC%20and%20Xbox%20One%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The years Ramadan fell in May
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures
October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA
The biog
Siblings: five brothers and one sister
Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota
Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym
Favourite place: UAE
Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera
What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
%3Cp%3EHigh%20fever%20(40%C2%B0C%2F104%C2%B0F)%3Cbr%3ESevere%20headache%3Cbr%3EPain%20behind%20the%20eyes%3Cbr%3EMuscle%20and%20joint%20pains%3Cbr%3ENausea%3Cbr%3EVomiting%3Cbr%3ESwollen%20glands%3Cbr%3ERash%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS
AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas
DevisionX – manufacturing
Event Gates – security and manufacturing
Farmdar – agriculture
Farmin – smart cities
Greener Crop – agriculture
Ipera.ai – space digitisation
Lune Technologies – fibre-optics
Monak – delivery
NutzenTech – environment
Nybl – machine learning
Occicor – shelf management
Olymon Solutions – smart automation
Pivony – user-generated data
PowerDev – energy big data
Sav – finance
Searover – renewables
Swftbox – delivery
Trade Capital Partners – FinTech
Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment
Workfam – employee engagement
More on Quran memorisation:
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Enterprise-grade%20security%20and%20privacy%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Unlimited%20higher-speed%20GPT-4%20access%20with%20no%20caps%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Longer%20context%20windows%20for%20processing%20longer%20inputs%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Advanced%20data%20analysis%20capabilities%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Customisation%20options%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Shareable%20chat%20templates%20that%20companies%20can%20use%20to%20collaborate%20and%20build%20common%20workflows%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Analytics%20dashboard%20for%20usage%20insights%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Free%20credits%20to%20use%20OpenAI%20APIs%20to%20extend%20OpenAI%20into%20a%20fully-custom%20solution%20for%20enterprises%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
