DeepSeek climbs to the top of iPhone app store charts: Implications?
DeepSeek has reached the pinnacle of the iPhone app store charts. What implications does this achievement carry?
TroibNews 
DeepSeek, a mobile AI application, has achieved a remarkable feat by surpassing OpenAI's ChatGPT to take the lead on the iPhone free app charts in both China and the U.S. This achievement comes shortly after the application's Chinese developer released the "reasoning model," known as DeepSeek R1.
When users enable the "DeepThink" mode, the app reveals its "thinking process" prior to delivering responses, allowing it to handle intricate logical and mathematical challenges. As stated on DeepSeek's official website, the R1 model's performance is "on par with" OpenAI-o1, while its operational costs are roughly 1/30th of its competitor's.
Users can access both the mobile app and web chatbot for free, with only API calls for developers requiring payment. Furthermore, DeepSeek has made its full-size model available for free download, enabling users with adequate hardware to run it locally. For those using less powerful devices, the company has provided scaled-down versions of the model, tailored for everything from ultra-thin laptops to high-performance gaming setups.
In addition to offering free access to its models, DeepSeek has released a research paper outlining the development of the R1 model, allowing other developers to replicate the process with their own training data.
Reactions from the AI community
The introduction of the R1 model has generated significant excitement in the AI sector, eliciting admiration from notable figures.
Marc Andreessen, a venture capitalist and co-founder of Netscape, remarked on X.com that DeepSeek R1 is "one of the most amazing and impressive breakthroughs" he has ever encountered, dubbing it "a profound gift to the world."
Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, acknowledged on X.com that "DeepSeek has largely replicated OpenAI-o1-mini and has open-sourced it."
Jim Fan, a senior research manager at Nvidia, highlighted that DeepSeek is a "non-U.S. company" dedicated to fulfilling OpenAI's original mission of conducting "truly open, frontier research that empowers all."
Yann LeCun, Meta's chief AI scientist, clarified that DeepSeek's success does not imply "China surpassing the U.S. in AI," but rather underscores how "open-source models are surpassing proprietary ones."
Kai-Fu Lee, former president of Google China, conveyed a sense of validation on X.com, indicating that the DeepSeek developments confirm his belief in China's capability to excel in generative AI engineering, despite doubts expressed by others.
DeepSeek CEO: Advocating for China's innovation potential
In a July 2024 conversation with 36kr.com, DeepSeek's CEO Liang Wenfeng emphasized that China should evolve beyond the perception of merely implementing U.S. innovations. He suggested that as the nation's economy matures, it should become a global innovator rather than depend on the progress of others.
Liang pointed out that true innovation is fueled not just by the quest for business success but also by sincere curiosity. He further disclosed that the DeepSeek team is comprised of young talent and noted that the earlier V2 model's development did not rely on contributions from overseas Chinese members.
"Perhaps the top 50 talents in this field are not in China," Liang stated to 36kr.com. "But we can cultivate our own."
At CN Digital, we are dedicated to staying updated on the latest developments in AI. We will continue to cover these advancements and provide informative insights to keep you informed. We also welcome your thoughts and encourage you to engage in discussions about AI within our community. Let’s continue the conversation!
Debra A Smith for TROIB News
When users enable the "DeepThink" mode, the app reveals its "thinking process" prior to delivering responses, allowing it to handle intricate logical and mathematical challenges. As stated on DeepSeek's official website, the R1 model's performance is "on par with" OpenAI-o1, while its operational costs are roughly 1/30th of its competitor's.
Users can access both the mobile app and web chatbot for free, with only API calls for developers requiring payment. Furthermore, DeepSeek has made its full-size model available for free download, enabling users with adequate hardware to run it locally. For those using less powerful devices, the company has provided scaled-down versions of the model, tailored for everything from ultra-thin laptops to high-performance gaming setups.
In addition to offering free access to its models, DeepSeek has released a research paper outlining the development of the R1 model, allowing other developers to replicate the process with their own training data.
Reactions from the AI community
The introduction of the R1 model has generated significant excitement in the AI sector, eliciting admiration from notable figures.
Marc Andreessen, a venture capitalist and co-founder of Netscape, remarked on X.com that DeepSeek R1 is "one of the most amazing and impressive breakthroughs" he has ever encountered, dubbing it "a profound gift to the world."
Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, acknowledged on X.com that "DeepSeek has largely replicated OpenAI-o1-mini and has open-sourced it."
Jim Fan, a senior research manager at Nvidia, highlighted that DeepSeek is a "non-U.S. company" dedicated to fulfilling OpenAI's original mission of conducting "truly open, frontier research that empowers all."
Yann LeCun, Meta's chief AI scientist, clarified that DeepSeek's success does not imply "China surpassing the U.S. in AI," but rather underscores how "open-source models are surpassing proprietary ones."
Kai-Fu Lee, former president of Google China, conveyed a sense of validation on X.com, indicating that the DeepSeek developments confirm his belief in China's capability to excel in generative AI engineering, despite doubts expressed by others.
DeepSeek CEO: Advocating for China's innovation potential
In a July 2024 conversation with 36kr.com, DeepSeek's CEO Liang Wenfeng emphasized that China should evolve beyond the perception of merely implementing U.S. innovations. He suggested that as the nation's economy matures, it should become a global innovator rather than depend on the progress of others.
Liang pointed out that true innovation is fueled not just by the quest for business success but also by sincere curiosity. He further disclosed that the DeepSeek team is comprised of young talent and noted that the earlier V2 model's development did not rely on contributions from overseas Chinese members.
"Perhaps the top 50 talents in this field are not in China," Liang stated to 36kr.com. "But we can cultivate our own."
At CN Digital, we are dedicated to staying updated on the latest developments in AI. We will continue to cover these advancements and provide informative insights to keep you informed. We also welcome your thoughts and encourage you to engage in discussions about AI within our community. Let’s continue the conversation!
Debra A Smith for TROIB News
