Chinese AI App DeepSeek Overtakes ChatGPT as Top Free App on U.S. App Store

Chinese startup DeepSeek’s AI assistant has become the top-rated free application on Apple’s App Store in the United States, surpassing the popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The app, powered by the DeepSeek-V3 model, was launched on January 10 and has quickly gained traction among U.S. users, according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower.

The DeepSeek-V3 model, touted by its developers as “leading the leaderboard for open-source models” and rivaling the world’s most advanced closed-source AI systems, has captured the attention of Silicon Valley. This achievement challenges long-held assumptions about U.S. dominance in artificial intelligence and raises questions about the impact of Washington’s export controls targeting China’s AI and semiconductor sectors.

Training AI models like DeepSeek and ChatGPT requires powerful chips, which the U.S. has restricted from being exported to China since 2021. However, DeepSeek researchers claimed in a recent paper that they used Nvidia’s H800 chips, less advanced than the restricted products,and spent under $6 million to train the model. While this claim has sparked some controversy, the cost-effectiveness and reported chip usage have led U.S. tech executives to reconsider the effectiveness of these export controls.

DeepSeek’s rapid rise highlights the growing capabilities of Chinese AI innovation. The Hangzhou-based startup, founded in 2023, has outpaced expectations, especially as the Chinese AI space has seen a flurry of activity since Baidu launched the first large-language model in the country. Although numerous Chinese firms have since developed AI models, DeepSeek is the first to receive widespread praise from U.S. tech leaders for matching, or potentially surpassing, the performance of leading U.S. AI systems.

This milestone underscores the growing global competition in artificial intelligence and raises important questions about the evolving dynamics of innovation and regulation in the tech industry.

Image Source: Photo from South China Morning Post