DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd. (referred to as “DeepSeek” or “深度求索”) , founded in 2023, is a Chinese company dedicated to making AGI a reality. DeepSeek is a Chinese artificial intelligence company founded in July 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, co-founder of the hedge fund High-Flyer. Based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, DeepSeek specializes in developing large language models (LLMs) and has made significant strides in AI research and development.
DeepSeek’s open-source models have been integrated into various platforms. Tencent’s Weixin (WeChat) app and Baidu’s search engine have both begun testing DeepSeek’s AI capabilities to enhance their services. These collaborations signify a broader industry shift towards adopting advanced AI models in mainstream applications.
In January 2025, DeepSeek released its chatbot, powered by the DeepSeek-R1 model, which quickly gained popularity. Notably, the company has focused on creating efficient AI models that perform comparably to leading systems while utilizing less sophisticated hardware and processing power. This efficiency is achieved through reinforcement learning and a “mixture of experts” approach, allowing the model to adapt and improve with minimal computational resources.
However, DeepSeek has faced challenges regarding data privacy and compliance. In February 2025, South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission suspended new downloads of DeepSeek’s chatbot apps, citing concerns over data collection practices and transparency. Despite these issues, DeepSeek continues to be a prominent player in the AI industry, influencing both technological advancements and market dynamics.