ISLAMABAD: In a surprising twist in the artificial intelligence race, Chinese startup DeepSeek has outpaced OpenAI’s ChatGPT to claim the top spot as the most downloaded free application on Apple’s App Store in the United States. This milestone marks a significant shift in global AI competition, challenging the long-standing dominance of American tech firms in cutting-edge AI development.
DeepSeek’s rise to prominence is powered by its DeepSeek-V3 model, which its developers claim surpasses all open-source models and stands toe-to-toe with the most advanced proprietary AI systems. Since its launch on January 10, the application has rapidly gained traction among US users, according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower.
This unexpected breakthrough has sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley, forcing a reassessment of the perceived technological gap between China and the US. It also raises pressing questions about the effectiveness of Washington’s stringent export controls aimed at limiting China’s access to high-end semiconductor technology essential for training AI models.
Despite the US government’s widening restrictions on advanced chip exports since 2021, DeepSeek’s researchers revealed in a recent paper that their model was trained using Nvidia’s H800 chips, reportedly costing less than $6 million. While some experts dispute this claim, it has nonetheless fueled concerns among American tech leaders about whether these controls are truly impeding China’s AI progress or merely pushing Chinese firms to innovate around them.
Adding to the intrigue, little is publicly known about DeepSeek itself. The Hangzhou-based startup, founded in 2023 in the wake of Baidu’s release of China’s first large-scale AI model, has maintained a relatively low profile. Yet, its emergence as a serious contender in the AI arena underscores China’s rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, proving that smaller players can challenge even the most established industry leaders.
DeepSeek is now the first Chinese AI company to receive widespread acclaim from the US tech sector for not just matching but potentially surpassing leading American AI models. As the AI arms race intensifies, DeepSeek’s unexpected success may signal a turning point—one that forces global policymakers, tech executives, and AI researchers to rethink the evolving balance of power in artificial intelligence development.
