DeepSeek Sparks the War of AI Models

Just a few days after the new President of the United States announced he would allocate 5 billion dollars to the main American companies dedicated to AI (OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Meta, X, etc.), a Chinese company went ahead and published an AI model called DeepSeek-R1 under a free license. To be specific, many models are “open source,” which means their source code is open, but in practice, they are under very restrictive licenses (in Europe, for example, certain uses are prohibited…). In contrast, the DeepSeek-R1 license is truly a FREE model under the MIT license, one of the most widely used licenses by free software enthusiasts.

However, what has sparked a war of AI models is the fact that DeepSeek appears to be much more optimized and not only runs faster than ChatGPT, but also requires less computing hardware to function, meaning practically anyone could have their own complex LLM system with reasoning capabilities using just a simple graphics card costing no more than €200.

Of course, DeepSeek offers an online version that people can use completely free of charge. It also has a (commercial) API to use the reasoning version (similar to the GPT4-o1 model), though at a slightly lower cost than OpenAI’s API.

It seems that the United States wants to start its own “AI space race” against China, but the latter has just launched its first rocket to the Moon, leaving the U.S. with a 400 billion-dollar hole in the stock of the company that manufactures the most-used hardware for AI: NVIDIA.

In the United States:

GPT-4 by OpenAI: GPT-4 is a large-scale language model that has set new standards in natural language processing, text generation, and contextual understanding. Its ability to generate coherent and relevant content has been widely recognized.

Gemini 2.0 by Google DeepMind: Gemini 2.0 is a multimodal model that integrates text, image, and audio processing. It stands out for its advanced reasoning and understanding capabilities, enabling applications in various areas such as information retrieval and virtual assistance.

Claude by Anthropic: Claude is a language model focused on safety and alignment with human values. It has been used in applications requiring secure and ethical interactions, contributing to responsible AI development.

Grok-2 by xAI: From Elon Musk’s company, Grok-2 is a language model that integrates with platforms like X (formerly Twitter) to enhance interaction and content generation. Its focus on social media integration distinguishes it in the AI landscape.

Llama 3 by Meta AI: Introduced in April 2024, Llama 3 is the latest version in Meta’s series of large language models. Available in 8 billion and 70 billion parameter versions, it outperforms other open-source models in various benchmark tests.

In China:

DeepSeek-R1: Developed by the startup DeepSeek, this reasoning model has surprised the tech sector with its efficiency and low cost. DeepSeek-R1 has surpassed competitors like OpenAI in terms of downloaded applications, demonstrating that advanced AI development does not require huge investments.

Qwen 2.5-Max by Alibaba: The tech giant Alibaba recently launched its Qwen 2.5-Max model, which claims to outperform advanced models like DeepSeek-V3, OpenAI’s GPT-4o, and Meta’s Llama-3.1-405B. This release highlights Alibaba’s rapid evolution in the AI field.

Ernie Bot by Baidu: Baidu, known for its search engine, has developed Ernie Bot, a conversational AI model that has been integrated into various applications, demonstrating advanced natural language processing capabilities.

Hunyuan by Tencent: Tencent, the company behind WeChat, created the AI model Hunyuan, which has been integrated into its messaging platform to improve interactions and provide more accurate responses to users.

Kimi k1.5 by Moonshot AI: Moonshot AI has developed the Kimi k1.5 model, known for its multimodal and reasoning capabilities, positioning itself as a competitive alternative in the AI market.

The Importance of AI in Europe…

Meanwhile, in Europe, we are watching how various players are striving to lead in AI, waiting in astonishment to see who will achieve supremacy in a technology that, as anyone can imagine, will be as revolutionary as the internet was in its day.

The European Parliament has already worked on creating specific legislation for AI in Europe, classifying models based on their “danger level,” establishing a “testing space” to study whether algorithms are dangerous or not, and similar measures. The legislation itself is not bad; it merely seeks to ensure that AI is safe, ethical, and respectful of fundamental rights. However, some companies consider that the obligations imposed are too demanding and could hinder innovation. To express their opposition to this “control,” they opt to ban the use of their technology in Europe, thereby pressuring authorities to relax its use on the old continent.

Whatever the case may be, Europe is currently lagging behind in this technological race for AI leadership. It’s nothing new; the same thing happens in other fields such as robotics and drones, for instance. While the United States and China are making real strides in terms of drones—not only with spectacular shows involving hundreds of units but also for transporting materials and/or people—in Europe, we have enacted such restrictive legislation that if you see someone flying a drone today, the police are probably already on their way to issue a fine.