2 February 2025

China’s DeepSeek Has Close Ties To Beijing

Alice Yam and Ha Syut

Rising AI star DeepSeek has close ties to the Chinese government that could explain its rapid progress from a 1 million yuan (US$138,000) startup in 2023 to a major global challenger in the industry, according to a recent investigation by RFA Cantonese.

The open-source artificial intelligence model founded by 40-year-old Liang Wenfeng knocked a US$1 trillion-sized hole in an AI-fueled rally on global stock markets on Monday when it topped app charts ahead of ChatGPT, in what many saw as a challenge to American dominance in the sector.

DeepSeek’s popularity roiled tech shares around the world, knocking US$1 trillion off their value, while near-monopoly holder Nvidia lost nearly US$600bn in market capitalization after its shares plummeted 17% on Monday.

U.S. President Donald Trump said DeepSeek should serve as a “wake-up call” to the U.S. industry, which needed to be “laser-focused on competing to win.”

Trump last week announced the launch of a US$500 billion AI initiative led by OpenAI, which is behind the generative AI service ChatGPT, Texas-based Oracle and Japan’s SoftBank.



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