Newly launched Chinese AI app DeepSeek has surged to number one in Apple's App Store and has triggered a sell-off of U.S. tech stocks. (Photo: AFP)
Chinese Artificial Intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek has become one fo the most downloaded free apps on the Apple App Store following its release this month in the United States.
The app has thrown financial markets into a spin, reportedly due to its popularity and its low price compared to other AI companies. The Chinese AI company said that its AI models are on par with other leading models like ChatGPT.
Reports suggest that it took only $6 million to build the app, much less than the money spent by other AI companies in the US.
What is DeepSeek?
DeepSeek is a Chinese AI company founded in Hangzhou. According to Sensor Tower, the company was launched in 2023, but the app was released in the US in January 2025.
Who is Liang Wenfeng?
Liang Wenfeng is an information and electronic engineering graduate. He used to run a Chinese quantitative hedge fund and now funds DeepSeek.
Why is it different from other AI models?
DeepSeek uses less memory and has been praised by researchers to tackle complex reasoning tasks, particularly mathematics. Compared to other models, its pricing is also low.
What does it do?
DeepSeek operates similarly to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. According to the description on the App Store, the app is designed to answer your questions and enhance your life efficiently.
Why did US stocks fall?
DeepSeek’s lower costs led to a fall in markets on January 27, leading the Nasdaq to fall more than 3%. After the news of DeepSeek’s performance spread widely, hundreds of billions of dollars were wiped off big tech stocks. Recently, the tech companies in the US pledged hundreds of billions of dollars for investment in AI.
How did it impact Nvidia?
US-based chipmaker Nvidia has been hit the worst by DeepSeek’s release in the US. DeepSeek uses the semiconductor chips made by Nvidia.
On Monday, Nvidia nearly lost $600 billion in market value, the largest one-day drop for any company in US history.
Nvidia, which had been the most valuable company in the world, fell to third place after Apple and Microsoft on Monday. Its market value fell from $3.5 trillion to $2.9 trillion, reported Forbes.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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