DeepSeek AI has been making waves in the western market recently. The startup is backed by quantitative hedge fund, High-Flyer. The fund reportedly built a 100 billion yuan or $13.79 billion portfolio using artificial intelligence models to make investment decisions, but in 2023 decided to change track to focus on developing the most cutting-edge AI.
In a post on its official WeChat account, Hangzhou Huanfang Technology Ltd Co., as the company is officially called, said it would focus on pursuing artificial general intelligence (AGI).
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“High-Flyer will concentrate its resources and strength, wholly devote itself to serve AI technology that benefits all of humanity, create a new independent research group, and explore the essence of AGI,” the company said.
DeepSeek was launched recently and was welcomed with a lot of interest in the western market. The company claims that their AI model was developed with a budget of $6 million, which is fairly cheap when compared to its western counterparts. DeepSeek has investors wondering about the cost of developing AI technology.
DeepSeek’s biggest competition in the western market comes from OpenAI and ChatGPT. OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research organization founded in December 2015 by prominent figures like Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Ilya Sutskever. Initially a nonprofit, OpenAI transitioned to a “capped-profit” model in 2019, creating OpenAI LP to attract necessary funding while still prioritizing the long-term goal of ensuring that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity.
OpenAI is most known for developing powerful language models like GPT-3 and GPT-4, which can generate human-like text based on input prompts. These models are used in applications like ChatGPT and contribute to advancements in natural language processing (NLP). Additionally, OpenAI created DALL·E, an AI that generates images from text descriptions, showcasing AI’s potential in creative fields. The Codex model powers GitHub Copilot, helping developers by suggesting code and automating programming tasks.
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Safety and ethics are core to OpenAI’s mission, with a focus on ensuring AI aligns with human values. They work with researchers, governments, and companies to address the risks and challenges of AGI development. OpenAI’s ultimate goal is to ensure that AI technologies, particularly AGI, are developed in a way that is safe, transparent, and beneficial to all of humanity.
However, it seems that DeepSeek will be giving OpenAI a run for its money. We will have to wait and see if this new AI model replaces OpenAI’s ChatGPT.