Chinese AI Startup DeepSeek Overtakes ChatGPT on Apple App Store

ChatGPT logo is seen in this illustration taken, January 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
ChatGPT logo is seen in this illustration taken, January 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Chinese AI Startup DeepSeek Overtakes ChatGPT on Apple App Store

ChatGPT logo is seen in this illustration taken, January 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
ChatGPT logo is seen in this illustration taken, January 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Chinese startup DeepSeek's AI Assistant on Monday overtook rival ChatGPT to become the top-rated free application available on Apple's App Store in the United States.

Powered by the DeepSeek-V3 model, which its creators say "tops the leaderboard among open-source models and rivals the most advanced closed-source models globally", the artificial intelligence application has surged in popularity among US users since it was released on Jan. 10, according to app data research firm Sensor Tower.

The milestone highlights how DeepSeek has left a deep impression on Silicon Valley, upending widely held views about US primacy in AI and the effectiveness of Washington's export controls targeting China's advanced chip and AI capabilities, Reuters reported.

AI models from ChatGPT to DeepSeek require advanced chips to power their training. The Biden administration has since 2021 widened the scope of bans designed to stop these chips from being exported to China and used to train Chinese firms' AI models.

However, DeepSeek researchers wrote in a paper last month that the DeepSeek-V3 used Nvidia's H800 chips for training, spending less than $6 million.

Although this detail has since been disputed, the claim that the chips used were less powerful than the most advanced Nvidia products Washington has sought to keep out of China, as well as the relatively cheap training costs, has prompted US tech executives to question the effectiveness of tech export controls.

Little is known about the company behind DeepSeek, a small Hangzhou-based startup founded in 2023, when search engine giant Baidu released the first Chinese AI large-language model.

Since then, dozens of Chinese tech companies large and small have released their own AI models, but DeepSeek is the first to be praised by the US tech industry as matching or even surpassing the performance of cutting-edge US models.



Downloads of DeepSeek's AI Apps Paused in South Korea Over Privacy Concerns 

People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
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Downloads of DeepSeek's AI Apps Paused in South Korea Over Privacy Concerns 

People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
People watch a TV reporting DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)

DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, has temporarily paused downloads of its chatbot apps in South Korea while it works with local authorities to address privacy concerns, South Korean officials said Monday.

South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission said DeepSeek’s apps were removed from the local versions of Apple’s App Store and Google Play on Saturday evening and that the company agreed to work with the agency to strengthen privacy protections before relaunching the apps.

The action does not affect users who have already downloaded DeepSeek on their phones or use it on personal computers. Nam Seok, director of the South Korean commission’s investigation division, advised South Korean users of DeepSeek to delete the app from their devices or avoid entering personal information into the tool until the issues are resolved.

DeepSeek got worldwide attention last month when it claimed it built its popular chatbot at a fraction of the cost of those made by US companies. The resulting frenzy upended markets and fueled debates over competition between the US and China in developing AI technology.

Many South Korean government agencies and companies have either blocked DeepSeek from their networks or prohibited employees from using the app for work, amid worries that the AI model was gathering too much sensitive information.

The South Korean privacy commission, which began reviewing DeepSeek’s services last month, found that the company lacked transparency about third-party data transfers and potentially collected excessive personal information, Nam said.

Nam said the commission did not have an estimate on the number of DeepSeek users in South Korea. A recent analysis by Wiseapp Retail found that DeepSeek was used by about 1.2 million smartphone users in South Korea during the fourth week of January, emerging as the second-most-popular AI model behind ChatGPT.