A Chinese startup called DeepSeek has released a new open-source artificial intelligence model that is sparking concern among tech giants in the US. The model’s success has led to a significant slide in US tech stocks and investors scrambling to reevaluate their bets.
Experts say that DeepSeek’s achievement follows a similar playbook as China’s major global economic successes, which have emerged from a national strategy focused on investing heavily in key industries. In the case of electric vehicles, Chinese companies have received subsidies, tax breaks, and policies requiring the country to go electric, resulting in a thriving domestic industry.
Chinese AI investment has been growing rapidly, with the government pouring over $200 billion into AI-related firms over the past decade. The latest announcement of an $8.2 billion AI investment fund is just another example of the country’s commitment to this sector.
The success of Chinese companies like Geely and BYD demonstrates a pattern of sophisticated research networks and firms building on previous successes. Research papers show that DeepSeek employees are part of these same networks as established tech giants, including ByteDance and Baidu.
While the growth of China’s auto industry was slow to develop, its AI sector has emerged quickly, with major differences in speed between the two. The biggest lesson is that everyone should start paying attention to Chinese innovation, particularly when it comes to AI and other emerging technologies.
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/china-taught-ai-startups-a-lesson-automakers-learned-years-ago