Key Takeaways
- DeepSeek is a Chinese AI application that temporarily stopped new user registrations due to massive cyberattacks. Existing users were not affected during this time.
- Recently, it surpassed ChatGPT as the most downloaded app in the U.S. Apple App Store.
- DeepSeek’s success has caused significant disruptions to the global tech industry and raised questions about the need for large investments in AI infrastructure.
On Monday, 27th January 2025, the newest strong rival of AI models, DeepSeek, temporarily stopped taking new user registrations due to large-scale cyber attacks. While existing users could still log in and use the app, new users were left waiting for the next update on these malicious activities to use the newly popular AI assistant.
On Monday, the status page said that an investigation is being conducted to identify the issue. After about two hours of monitoring, the company concluded that it was a victim of large-scale malicious attacks and limited registrations.
The app is now allowing registrations again, indicating that the issue must’ve been resolved. However, there’s a note on the page that says, “Registration may be busy. Please wait and try again.” so it’s possible that logins might be slow.
The Chinese AI app recently dethroned ChatGPT to become the most downloaded free app in the US Apple App Store.
The company has been in the spotlight since then, leaving tech analysts, investors, and developers in shock with its generative AI systems and the advanced technology that it has been using.
The fact that DeepSeek is developed at a fraction of the cost of its rivals makes it a shocking and extraordinary development in AI. Jefferies analysts estimate the R1 model’s training cost at only $5.6 millionwhich is far less than competitors’ models like ChatGPT 4, which cost more than $100 million to develop.
The success of this company puts a question mark on whether the gigantic funding rounds and exceptionally high valuations for AI are really justified.
The Rapid Rise of DeepSeek (20199013) Founded in 2023, by a Chinese hedge-fund high flyer Liang Wennfeng. DeepSeek is a free AI tool like Gemini that provides structured explanations as well as step-by-step methods for solving problems.
After its release, the R1 model was a hit with the AI industry for its performance and reasoning abilities. This R1 model is a “reasoning” version of the V3 that has been tweaked with a reinforcement learningtechnique.
According to several reviews, while ChatGPT excels at creating creative content, DeepSeek excels in problem-solving and mathematical reasoning more than most AI tools on the market.
The investor Marc Andreessen said that “DeepSeek R1 represents AI’s Sputnik Moment”. Trump wrote about X
and said that the rise of DeepSeek was a wake-up call for US companies.He announced last week a new $500B AI Infrastructure project called Stargate. The project will be carried out in collaboration with OpenAI Softbank and Oracle. Trump has high expectations for this venture.
Deepsake, a Chinese AI app will be interesting to compare with the largest investment in AI ever made. Add Techreport into Your Google News Feed.
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Vlad is Tech Report’s Executive Editor. With over a decade of experience in tech content, he’s passionate about computer hardware, an advocate of online privacy, and strongly believes in the open-source, scarce-money nature of cryptocurrency. When he’s not working, he’s traveling with his partner and their cat, learning Python, or reading good books. He never owned a PC he did not build.
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