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Is This New Chinese AI a ‘Sputnik Moment’?

DeepSeek has released a cheap, open-source artificial intelligence. Does it challenge American AI supremacy?

TheChinesestartupDeepSeekhasreleasedtheR1advancedreasoningmodel,acheapopen-sourceartificialintelligence,promptingSiliconValleyinvestorMarcAndreessentodeclarethatwehavereached“AI’ssputnikmoment.”TheanalogyimpliesthattheproductthreatensAmericanAIdominanceinawaycomparabletothespace-racechallengeposedbytheSovietUnion’sfirstorbitalsatellitein1957. TheU.S.hasimposedexportcontrolsonthemostadvancedcomputerchips,forcingtheChinesedeveloperstooptimizetheirnewmodelusingmuchlesscapablechips.Thisspookedthemarkets,andthestocksofU.S.chipmakerslikeNvidiaandAIdeveloperslikeMicrosoftandMetafellthismorning. DeepSeekR1performscomparablytothetopreleasesfromAmericanAIlabs,althoughGoogle’sGeminiFlash-ThinkingstilloutperformsitintheChatbotArena.ButDeepSeek’schiefimmediatethreattoU.S.modelsisthatitclaimstobemuchcheaperthanmanyofitsAmericancompetitors.OneAIinsiderhasarguedtome