DeepSeek spurs global AI competitors to adopt open-source strategy

The global AI landscape is being reshaped following the release of a powerful low-cost large language model by Chinese startup DeepSeek last month, with leading AI competitors at home and abroad shifting to an open-source strategy.

DeepSeek's new R1 model has achieved ChatGPT-level performance at a fraction of the cost, attracting global users and challenging the traditional reliance on hardware investment and computing power in AI development.

Unlike ChatGPT, DeepSeek is open source, allowing anyone to download, modify and build upon it. This strategy has forced major players in the field to shift their attention to open-source development.

Chinese internet search giant Baidu on Thursday announced that its Ernie Bot service will be free for all PC and mobile users starting from April 1.

Ernie Bot is an AI chatbot developed by Baidu. It's based on the Ernie 4.0 large language model and is designed to understand and generate human-like language responses.

On the same day, ChatGPT creator OpenAI said the free tier of ChatGPT will get unlimited chat access to its coming GPT-5 at the standard intelligence setting.

Google has also opened its latest AI model suite to all users.

"When open source models can perform 80 percent of commercial functions at only one tenth of the cost, the monopoly of the closed source system will naturally collapse, forcing the leading players to abandon walled gardens," said Gong Zheng, an engineer with the Technology and Standards Research Institute of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

Gong explained the business logic behind the sudden pivot to seemingly unprofitable free access after years of subscription-based services.

"When tech leaders are able to offer higher-performance services at lower costs, being free will become a tool for market dominance," Gong said.

Analysts say this trend will intensify competition in the industry. Smaller players unable to afford the long-term open source strategy may exit the market, while industry leaders will create a circle of "technology upgrade-user growth-cost reduction" by optimizing their models based on accumulated user data. Therefore, resources will be further concentrated on companies with advantages in computing power, data and capital.

On the one hand, free services will attract more users and developers, promoting popularization and application of AI technologies. On the other hand, this will compel competitors to explore new business models, according to Bai Runxuan, an analyst of CCID Consulting's center for AI and big data research.

"It's a megatrend to offer basic services for free, but enterprise-level services will still be charged. As countries strengthen the supervision of AI, such requirements as data traceability and security audit will drive up hidden costs of the suppliers. This may lead to the emergence of some new charging models," Bai said.

DeepSeek spurs global AI competitors to adopt open-source strategy

Nicaragua's co-foreign minister Valdrack Jaentschke has warned that militarism must never be allowed to rise again, as Japan's recent moves to lift its arms export ban and revise the pacifist Constitution continue to draw international concern.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, where Japan's Class-A war criminals from World War II were brought to justice.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Valdrack Jaentschke voiced his concern that today's world order is being undermined by interventionism and other challenges.

"It is necessary for us to remember that after the end of World War II, countries worked hard to build a new international order based on international law. However, regrettably, more than 80 years later, we are seeing that this once explored and attempted order is being challenged by interventionism, a confrontational mindset, and tendencies like 'might makes right.' These are precisely the conditions that gave rise to fascism and militarism in the past, which ultimately led to the tragedy of World War II," he said.

He said the international community has a responsibility to pursue a new international order -- one fundamentally grounded in peace.

"Looking back at the history more than eight decades ago and comparing it with today's reality, it is our responsibility to recognize that the world should, and must, build a new international order that is more just, fairer, rooted in international law, based on a logic of mutual benefit and shared success, and fundamentally grounded in peace," said the minister.

"Today, as we revisit the Tokyo Trials, it is meant to remind the world that such a tragedy must never be repeated -- and that we must do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again. We must stop that dark world -- born from militarism, interventionism, and fascism -- from ever returning," he said.

Nicaraguan FM warns of militarism revival