This Chinese AI thing that’s got the tech world buzzing like a beehive on a sugar high. Popped up outta nowhere — well, Hangzhou — in 2023, promising ChatGPT-level smarts for the price of a dodgy takeaway.
What’s DeepSeek Anyway?
DeepSeek’s this AI startup — born from some hedge fund called High-Flyer, run by a bloke named Liang Wenfeng who’s all “AGI or bust.” Dropped its first model in late ‘23, now it’s flexing with DeepSeek-V3 and R1 — big language models, open-source, cheap as chips. Claims it’s built on Nvidia H800s — not even the fancy banned ones — for like $6 mil. Compare that to OpenAI’s “we spent a gazillion” vibe. Chatbot’s free, app’s topping charts, and everyone’s like “whoa, China’s winning!”
My take? Sounds too good, mate. Smells like a PR stunt with a side of “screw you, US export bans.” Still, it talks, it codes, it reasons — ish.
How’s It Work — Magic or Maths?
Jump on deepseek.com, sign up — boom, you’re chatting. Ask it stuff — “solve this math,” “write me a rap” — it spits back answers fast. V3’s got 671 billion parameters, R1’s all “I think like a human, sorta.” Open-source, so nerds can tweak it — unlike ChatGPT’s “pay me” wall. X posts rave — “20x cheaper than o1!” — and it’s got this “show my thinking” trick. Cool, ‘til it rambles like your drunk uncle.
Tried it — asked “fix my code,” got a decent patch. Then “what’s AGI?” — waffle city. Good, not god-tier. Hype’s loud, tho — stocks crashed when it dropped, Nvidia lost $600 bil. Wild.
The Catch — Coz There’s Always One
Here’s the tea — cheap don’t mean flawless. Training for $6 mil? Dodgy — experts reckon it’s more, just hidden. Data? Hoovers it up — chats, prompts, all shipped to China, says their policy. Privacy? Ha, good one. Censorship too — ask about Tiananmen, get a blank stare. Plus, it’s not *that* new — Mixture of Experts, some fancy attention tricks — clever, not groundbreaking.
Me? I’m suss — works fine, but the “we beat OpenAI” noise? Overblown. X’s split — some call it genius, others smell bullsh*t. Geopolitical flex, maybe — “look, we don’t need your chips!”
The Good, The Bad, The “Oh, Mate”
Good stuff:
- Cheap as — free app, low cost to run.
- Open-source — tinkerers’ dream.
- Fast — spits answers quick, no lag.
- Flexes hard — math, code, chit-chat.
Bad stuff:
- Data hog — China’s got your secrets now.
- Hype’s nuts — not *that* amazing.
- Censorship — touchy topics? Nope.
- Trust issues — $6 mil? Pull the other one.
Final Word — Buy In or Bail?
DeepSeek’s like that mate who brags too much — got skills, sure, but calm down, yeah? Shook the AI world, made Nvidia sweat, and yeah, it’s handy — coded me a script, wrote a dumb poem. But the “game-changer” tag? Overcooked. Use it, play with it, just don’t hand it your soul — or your data, same diff. Cheers, ya tech nuts — may your bots be smart and your wallets stay full!
