The landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was recently shaken by the arrival of a new protagonist: DeepSeek. Developed by a Chinese startup, the tool promises to redefine what we understand by generative AI, challenging industry giants like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. But what makes DeepSeek so special?
It is an open-source AI platform that stands out for its efficiency and low development cost, achieved through an innovative and highly disruptive technological architecture versus the more well-known generative artificial intelligence models in the market. One of the most notable technical innovations is the so-called “intelligent quantization”, which in simpler terms would be understood as the rounding formula used to facilitate calculations. This approach significantly reduces the need for memory and associated costs without compromising the accuracy of the results.
Thus, while companies like OpenAI have invested around $6 billion over a decade, with a team of 4,500 employees, DeepSeek achieved comparable results in just two years, with a team of fewer than 200 employees and investments approximately 1000 times smaller, between $5 and $6 million.
In addition, DeepSeek is built on a hybrid architecture that combines deep neural networks with sparse attention mechanisms and advanced reinforcement learning algorithms. The combination allows for more efficient data processing, reducing computational consumption while maintaining high accuracy.
Another differentiator is that DeepSeek adopts the ‘mixture of experts’ approach, activating only the necessary computational resources for each task. The technique not only increases efficiency but also reduces energy consumption, making the model more sustainable. One of the biggest advantages is being an open-source system. This means that anyone, whether a researcher, developer, or technology enthusiast, can access its source code, study it, modify it, and improve it according to their needs.
The democratization of AI enables countries and regions in development to access cutting-edge technologies without relying exclusively on proprietary and high-cost solutions, leveling the playing field and allowing different communities to benefit from AI advancements to address local challenges.
Market Impact
The introduction of DeepSeek has caused significant impact on the technological and financial market. Companies like Nvidia, a leading supplier of AI chips, saw a sharp drop in their stocks (which had been on a months-long excessive appreciation trend) after the launch of DeepSeek, resulting in a market capitalization loss of approximately $600 billion (at the time of writing this article). This demonstrates how the ‘phenomenon’ DeepSeek challenged the status quo and prompted a reassessment of AI development strategies by major companies.
All of this was so impactful and transformative that even the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, who has global AI leadership by American companies as one of his main government banners, was forced to comment.
Furthermore, the accessibility and low cost of DeepSeek open up opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises to adopt advanced AI solutions, previously limited to large corporations due to high costs. The result can be greater innovation in various sectors, from health to finance.
The success of DeepSeek signals a paradigm shift in AI development (which was led and dominated by the USA), bringing new heavyweight competitors to the industry, emphasizing efficiency with accessibility. It is expected that this approach will encourage other companies to adopt open-source models, seeking more resource-efficient solutions.
However, preparing for this revolution requires that professionals and companies exhibit certain behaviors:
- Stay updated continuously: Staying informed about the latest trends and advances in AI is crucial. Reading news and participating in courses, workshops, and conferences can help keep up with the rapid pace of innovation.
- Adopt an open mindset: Being willing to experiment with new tools and approaches, such as those offered by DeepSeek, can provide significant competitive advantages, as there are literally dozens of new developments every day – and this process will tend to accelerate.
- Promote collaboration: The open-source nature of DeepSeek underscores the importance of collaboration in the AI community. Contributing to open source projects and sharing knowledge are actions that can accelerate collective progress, countering the main paid and closed models prevailing in the market up to that point.
The digital transformation is accelerating, and DeepSeek exemplifies how innovations can emerge unexpectedly, challenging established players and redefining the future of technology. Being prepared for changes is essential to remain relevant and competitive in the current market. I am very curious and interested in continuing to follow where all this will lead us! And you?
