The rapid advancement of DeepSeek, a Chinese company that stunned the tech industry this week by developing a cutting-edge large language model on a limited budget, highlights the growing strength of Chinese firms in artificial intelligence (AI), a spokesperson for China’s parliament said on Tuesday. Lou Qinjian, head of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee’s Information Technology and Innovation Subcommittee, praised DeepSeek’s young team, calling their achievement “commendable.”
The company is still tiny, but its success could significantly challenge US dominance in AI. US export controls have restricted many Chinese AI firms from accessing advanced chips to build and train powerful models, forcing them to find more efficient, cheaper ways to develop and deploy their systems. DeepSeeks’ success shows that the key to reducing AI costs is not just throwing money at the problem but embracing more innovative, leaner approaches, he said.
DeepSeek was founded in late 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of the hedge fund High-Flyer. The Chinese government funds it and has a staff of 100. While little known outside China, the firm is one of a growing number of private AI research labs focusing on open-source models that can be used commercially. This contrasts with many American AI giants, which use their proprietary models to build products and boost revenue.
A key advantage of this approach is that it allows companies to quickly adjust their resources in response to technological breakthroughs or market changes. It also prevents them from being pressured by quarterly financial targets to abandon important projects in favor of more lucrative ones. This is critical to maintaining a healthy competitive environment in the AI industry and ensuring that innovative ideas aren’t gobbled up by big, unwieldy, for-profit enterprises that dominate their markets.
In a recent interview, Liang also avoided questions about global conflicts like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or the broader issue of human rights in China. He emphasized that his company’s goal is to improve the lives of all human beings.
He said the company was planning to step up R&D in AI and accelerate its application. This aligns with China’s broad policy to boost its digital economy. The Chinese government in 2024 outlined a plan to promote the innovative development of the digital economy in its annual work report. The report also noted the need to create a high-quality, diversified, and inclusive industrial system, including strengthening R&D and applying AI technologies. It emphasized that this was an essential task for the entire country. It called for steps to strengthen cooperation between the state and the private sector in AI research and encouraged all sectors to embrace AI.
