Chinese DeepSeek is an existential threat to OpenAI and Google

Two things ensured that 2025 started with a bang. One, Donald Trump’s rash of shock-and-awe pronouncements that threatened to upend the existing world order, and two, a Chinese AI model called DeepSeek, which threatens to have a similar effect on the world of AI. Built as a ‘side project’ by a Chinese hedge fund High Flyer founded by Liang Wenfeng, the model has shocked Silicon Valley by outcompeting the best OpenAI and Google models like