When Hemanth Mandapati, CEO of German startup Novo AI, switched his company’s chatbots from OpenAI's ChatGPT to the Chinese AI model DeepSeek just two weeks ago, he didn't expect such a game-changing experience. 🤖💡
\"If you have built your application using OpenAI, you can easily migrate to the other ones… It took us minutes to switch,\" Mandapati shared at the GoWest conference for venture capitalists in Gothenburg, Sweden.
DeepSeek's arrival is shaking up the AI landscape, giving companies access to cutting-edge technology at a fraction of the cost. \"I am saving a lot of money, and users don't see any kind of difference,\" Mandapati added. 💰👍
European tech startups have been struggling to keep pace with their U.S. counterparts in adopting new AI technologies, often due to funding challenges. But DeepSeek might just be the boost they need. 🚀🌍
\"It marks a significant step forward in democratizing AI and leveling the playing field with Big Tech,\" said Seena Rejal, Chief Commercial Officer of British firm NetMind.AI, another early adopter of DeepSeek.
Analysts at Bernstein estimate that DeepSeek's pricing is 20 to 40 times cheaper than equivalent models from OpenAI. To put it in perspective, OpenAI charges $2.50 for 1 million input tokens, while DeepSeek offers the same for just $0.014! That's some serious savings. 🤑💸
While venture capitalists invested nearly $100 billion in U.S. AI companies in 2024, Europe only saw about $15.8 billion, according to PitchBook data. But with affordable AI models like DeepSeek, European startups might just catch up. 🏃♀️💨
On January 22, U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a $500 billion AI initiative called Stargate, a joint venture backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle. The investment gap between the U.S. and Europe is evident, but DeepSeek's emergence could bridge that divide. 🌉🇪🇺
\"This is a wake-up call that bigger isn't always better,\" said Fabrizio Del Maffeo, CEO of Axelera AI. \"By making models more attainable to everyone, the total cost of ownership and barriers to building innovative tech are lowered, which can be a catalyst for the whole industry.\"
The price war might have already begun. Last week, Microsoft made OpenAI's o1 reasoning model available to all Copilot users for free, instead of the usual $20-per-month subscription fee. Looks like competition is heating up! 🔥⚡
\"I see DeepSeek as a tremendous opportunity for companies like ours,\" said Ulrik R-T, CEO of Denmark's Empatik AI. \"It showed that we do not need huge budgets to achieve our vision.\" 🌟💡
With DeepSeek leading the way, Europe's tech firms might just sprint ahead in the global AI race. Ready, set, go! 🏁🏃♂️💨
Reference(s):
DeepSeek helps Europe's tech firms catch up in global AI race
cgtn.com
