The success of DeepSeek's open-source AI model underscores China's growing influence in global tech innovation, offering a blueprint for affordable and accessible solutions, said a tech media professional.
In an interview with China Global Television Network, Sophie Schmidt, founder of Rest of World, an American publication covering tech news in markets outside the developed West, discussed the tremendous impact of DeepSeek and its R1 model.
"I think DeepSeek and R1 in particular was an earthquake. It was a real wake-up call for the rest of the world. And so DeepSeek was impressive on a cost basis alone, but the fact that they made it open source really changed the game for, I think, AI entrepreneurs all over the world. All sorts of countries saw that moment and think, 'Aha! We can also participate and we don't have to make the same compromises or the same types of alliances that we might otherwise have to. Things are possible.' So I think it was a real win for the open source community in that respect," she said.
Founded by Schmidt in 2020, Rest of World has been closely following Chinese technology developments since its establishment.
"We've been reporting on Chinese technology for five years, as long as the publication has been alive. I used to work in China, so I know how talented China's engineers are, not just in AI, but in every form of technology you can imagine. Chinese engineering leads the world in so many capacities. So it's not surprising that their AI model, especially having to work around restrictions around chips and talent, that they would be able to produce something that was as valuable, as competitive, as capable and as affordable as what they've done. So I think now, the game is in a new place and I think that's really exciting for most of the world at this time," said the journalist.
Speaking from her own experience of working in China, she highlighted the Chinese tech sector's unique ability to create affordable, high-quality hardware and software at scale.
"I also think that the Chinese tech sector is unusually good at making affordable hardware and software. I used to work for Xiaomi a long time ago, and at the time it was a small startup, affordable smartphone player. And here it is making cars. The ability of Chinese companies to not only create really good quality products but also make them affordable and make them at scale, I think is really, probably the most important factor," Schmidt said.
She also emphasized the exceptional localization skills of Chinese entrepreneurs, especially when operating outside China.
"Chinese tech, in my experience, the entrepreneurs, especially when they're outside of China, they are really, really good at localizing. And that makes a huge difference because then people are able to use tools that are made for them and add on top of them. I think that's really exciting," she said.
DeepSeek's open-source AI model redefines global tech innovation: tech watcher
