They’ve managed to develop a model, DeepSeek-R1, that’s just as powerful as those from big players like OpenAI, but at a fraction of the cost—around 90-95% cheaper. What’s crazy is that they’re achieving this without relying on super-advanced hardware, which completely challenges the idea that you need massive resources to build cutting-edge AI.

What makes it even more interesting is their open-source approach. This is giving smaller companies and developers a real chance to compete, which is something we haven’t seen much of in an industry dominated by a few giants. Naturally, this has Silicon Valley on edge, with companies scrambling to figure out how DeepSeek pulled this off. It’s also a wake-up call globally, showing how quickly China is advancing in tech despite restrictions. DeepSeek is definitely changing the game.