An AI app is number one on the App Store -- and it isn't ChatGPT

Summary

DeepSeek is an AI chatbot app that operates similarly to ChatGPT, and is currently number one on the App Store.
The Chinese startup is only a year old, and has reportedly trained its new R1 AI model for only $5.6 million.
DeepSeek is available on the App Store and Google Play Store for free.

An AI chatbot is currently the most downloaded app in the App Store, but it isn’t ChatGPT. For the first time, China’s DeepSeek, an AI assistant app, is claiming the number one spot, causing shock waves in the US stock market. But what is it?

DeepSeek is a Chinese startup that aims to rival ChatGPT’s AI capabilities at a fraction of the cost. It’s only a year old and recently revealed a new AI model called R1, which reportedly only cost $5.6 million to train, far less than the billions of dollars US tech companies have spent on their AI models. DeepSeek is free to download on the App Store and Google Play Store and has positive reviews on both storefronts.

“Experience seamless interaction with DeepSeek’s official AI assistant for free. Powered by the groundbreaking DeepSeek-V3 model with over 600B parameters, this state-of-the-art AI leads global standards and matches top-tier international models across multiple benchmarks,” DeepSeek’s App Store page reads.

DeepSeek- AI Assistant

DeepSeek is a new AI chatbot that looks to rival’s ChatGPT abilities at a fraction of the cost. The app is available for free on the App Store and Play Store.

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DeepSeek is a familiar experience

It can search the web for the latest up-to-date information

DeepSeek

If you have used ChatGPT or Google Gemini before, using DeepSeek will be a familiar experience. The user interface is reminiscent of ChatGPT, and it can search the web and find the latest up-to-date information for any of your questions. It can also answer advanced math questions and summarize documents for you. Tech investor Marc Andreessen posted on X praising DeepSeek, calling it “one of the most amazing and impressive breakthroughs I’ve ever seen — and as open source, a profound gift to the world.”

DeepSeek’s success thus far is shocking to many, given how the US government has been issuing export restrictions on US-developed AI chips to rivals like China. This means DeepSeek has been able to develop and train a competitive AI model with far less computing resources and money than American tech companies. Just last week, OpenAI launched a joint-venture project called Stargate, with the company spending $100 billion on building new AI infrastructure in the US.

DeepSeek has undoubtedly thrown a curveball at the US tech industry. After playing around with the app, I understand why it generated such a buzz. Based on my short experience, it works the same as ChatGPT, and you don’t have to pay to access advanced features. According to Wired, DeepSeek’s success could be attributed to its focus on “software-driven resource optimization,” which may cause US tech companies to begin to rethink their AI infrastructure strategies worth billions of dollars.