Why the future of AI may be open (and Chinese)

The release of DeepSeek's R1 – China's powerful new open-source AI model – has sent shockwaves through the global tech industry. Offered for free and royalty-free, it has disrupted financial markets, challenged the United States' dominance in artificial intelligence, and prompted fears that Silicon Valley's tightly guarded business model may no longer hold. DeepSeek's open-source launch is widely seen as a key trigger behind a trillion-dollar tech sell-off in the US, signalling deep investor anxiety over the commodification of AI and China's growing competitiveness. Dubbed "China's answer" to OpenAI's GPT‑4, R1 has unsettled investors and shifted global AI geopolitics. While full development expenses remain undisclosed, this points to a markedly more cost-effective model than proprietary counterparts.