Chinese start-up DeepSeek (深度求索) is developing its own artificial intelligence (AI) chip, according to three people familiar with the matter, a push that could reduce its reliance on Nvidia Corp and Huawei Technologies Co (華為) chips, which it has depended on to train and run its globally popular models.The chip is designed for inference — the stage of AI computing in which a trained model generates responses for users — rather than for training new models, the sources said.If successful, DeepSeek’s expansion into semiconductor development would mark a major strategic shift for a company widely hailed in China as the country’s AI champion, potentially adding to challenges faced by Chinese tech giant Huawei.
The DeepSeek logo and words reading “Artificial Intelligence AI” are seen in this illustration taken on Jan. 29 last year.
“Nvidia is at zero in China and staying there. DeepSeek has almost no chance of selling silicon outside of China unless it gets access to leading-edge manufacturing,” Radio Free Mobile analyst Richard Windsor said, adding that the development does not affect the chipmaker.DeepSeek rose to global fame more than a year ago after releasing two highly efficient AI models that went viral worldwide, surprising many in Silicon Valley and Washington.
