Chinese startup DeepSeek’s AI assistant has surged past ChatGPT to become the top-rated free app on Apple’s U.S. App Store, according to app data research firm Sensor Tower. Powered by the DeepSeek-V3 model, the application has gained rapid popularity since its release on January 10.
The milestone signals a breakthrough for the Hangzhou-based company, founded in 2023, as it challenges the dominance of U.S. AI firms. Its creators have described deepSeek-V3 as rivalling the most advanced closed-source models globally while outperforming leading open-source models.
DeepSeek’s rise has disrupted the narrative of U.S. dominance in artificial intelligence and raised questions about the effectiveness of Washington’s export controls. Since 2021, the Biden administration has widened bans on exporting advanced chips to China, aiming to limit their use in training AI models. Despite these restrictions, DeepSeek researchers claimed their model was trained using Nvidia’s H800 chips, spending less than $6 million. This is a tiny fraction of what rivals like OpenAI have reportedly invested.
The claim that less powerful chips and relatively modest costs could produce a globally competitive model has challenged assumptions about the barriers to entry in advanced AI development.
DeepSeek’s rapid ascent shows the momentum that China is gaining in the AI industry. Since search engine giant Baidu released the first Chinese AI large-language model, numerous tech firms in China have developed their own AI systems. However, DeepSeek is the first to be widely praised in the U.S. for achieving performance on par with cutting-edge American models.
