DeepSeek is the name of a free AI-powered chatbot, which looks, feels and works very much like ChatGPT.

DeepSeek, a little-known Chinese startup, has sent shockwaves through the global tech sector with the release of an artificial intelligence (AI) model whose capabilities rival the creations of Google and OpenAI.

DeepSeek-R1’s creator says its model was developed using less advanced, and fewer, computer chips than employed by tech giants in the United States.

In a research paper released last week, the model’s development team said they had spent less than $6m on computing power to train the model – a fraction of the multibillion-dollar AI budgets enjoyed by US tech giants such as OpenAI and Google, the creators of ChatGPT and Gemini, respectively.

US President Donald Trump said it was a “wake-up call” for US companies who must focus on “competing to win”.

Experts urge caution over use of Chinese AI DeepSeek

Experts have urged caution over rapidly embracing the Chinese artificial intelligence platform DeepSeek, citing concerns about it spreading misinformation and how the Chinese state might exploit users’ data.