The R1 model's affordability has caused a stir in the tech industry, with analysts noting its cost per token is 96% lower than OpenAI's o1 model. This has led to questions about the sustainability of high AI spending by tech giants. However, DeepSeek's model is subject to strict Chinese censorship, and there are concerns about data privacy, as users cannot control what data is shared with servers in China. Despite these issues, DeepSeek's AI remains a competitive alternative to existing models, offering similar capabilities at a reduced cost.
Key takeaways:
- DeepSeek's R1 model is a cost-effective AI challenger to models from OpenAI, Meta, and Google.
- The R1 model performs well in reasoning and logic tasks but lacks features like voice mode and image generation.
- DeepSeek's AI is subject to censorship on sensitive topics, such as the status of Taiwan and the Tiananmen Square massacre.
- Data privacy concerns arise as customer data may be stored on servers in China without user control over data sharing.