A powerful new Chinese artificial intelligence, DeepSeek AI has taken the world by storm and it’s sending shockwaves through American tech companies and the US stock market like never before. What no one could have imagined, not even in their wildest dreams, is now becoming a reality. DeepSeek, developed in China, has emerged as a groundbreaking AI platform that’s challenging the dominance of Western AI giants. Its rapid rise and capabilities have caused major disruptions, prompting fear, curiosity, and admiration across global markets and tech industries.
The speed at which DeepSeek is making its presence felt is astonishing. It’s not just a technological marvel it represents a shift in the global AI power balance. Experts are calling it one of the biggest surprises in the AI space this year. American tech companies, once confident in their lead, are now facing serious competition. Investors are reacting sharply, and the tremors are being felt in the U.S. stock market, where uncertainty is growing over how long the West can maintain its AI dominance. Whether DeepSeek AI becomes a long term global leader remains to be seen. But one thing is clear China has entered the AI race not just to participate, but to lead and the world is taking notice.
DeepSeek AI: The Storm After Sam Altman’s Bold Claim
What an incredible twist of fate Not long ago, OpenAI founder Sam Altman was asked whether countries like India could ever develop foundational AI models like ChatGPT. His response was rather arrogant and dismissive. He said something along the lines of
It’s totally hopeless to compete with us on training foundational models. You can try and it’s your job to try but don’t expect to succeed unless you have $100 million. Maybe, just maybe, something substantial could be built with $10 million, but it’s unlikely.
His tone left little room for hope. He made it clear that, in his view, no one outside OpenAI certainly not in countries like India could build anything that could match their foundational models.
But today, Sam Altman himself might be feeling hopeless, because just one week after the launch of DeepSeek AI, it shook the global tech landscape. Within days, DeepSeek climbed to the top of the charts on the U.S. App Store and Google Play Store, becoming the number 1 downloaded app not only in America but also across India and several other countries. And by January 27th, DeepSeek had sent shockwaves through the U.S. financial markets. Before DeepSeek’s arrival, NVIDIA the company known for designing computer chips used to train and operate AI models was the most valuable tech company in the world, with a market cap of $3.5 trillion. But in just one day, its valuation plummeted to $2.9 trillion.
That’s a $589 billion loss in a single day the biggest one-day value drop in the history of any company. NVIDIA’s shares fell by 17%, and even the NASDAQ benchmark index dropped by 21%.
So why did NVIDIA suffer such a massive blow?
There’s a very interesting reason behind this and we’ll dive into that shortly. But before that, let’s explore the real story behind DeepSeek AI, where it came from, how it became such a global phenomenon overnight, and why it’s leaving even the giants like Google Search shaken.
Meet the Mysterious Mind Behind DeepSeek AI: Liang Weiping
The credit for building DeepSeek AI goes to a 40-year-old Chinese entrepreneur named Liang Weiping a name and face largely unknown to the public. In fact, if you look closely, you’ll notice that even DeepSeek’s official materials rarely reveal his full face. He has made very few public appearances, and has deliberately kept his identity and personal life shrouded in mystery. Very little is publicly known about his background or personal history. But here’s what we do know. In 2015, Liang founded a hedge fund called HighFlyer, which used mathematics and artificial intelligence to make investment decisions. By 2019, he launched HighFlyer AI, a separate arm dedicated to conducting research on AI algorithms and advancing the field of artificial intelligence.
Then came the pivotal year 2023.
Using the profits from his hedge fund, Liang decided to launch a side project with a bold vision to build an AI model that would surpass all others in the world. This wasn’t just a commercial venture it was driven by scientific curiosity and a desire to push the boundaries of what AI could achieve. And incredibly, within just two years, and with only a few million dollars invested, Liang and his team succeeded. They launched the DeepSeek R1 model a foundational AI model that is now making waves across the globe.
It’s a story of ambition, secrecy, and disruption and it’s only just beginning.
