Hong Kong — The artificial intelligence revolution has entered a new phase with the meteoric rise of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI powerhouse that has not only disrupted OpenAI’s dominance but has also forced China’s largest technology firms to reconsider their AI strategies. As the global market scrambles to assess the implications of DeepSeek’s rapid expansion, the company’s influence continues to grow, triggering major shifts in China’s AI industry and beyond.
Earlier this year, Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei announced a game-changing partnership that would see DeepSeek running on its domestically developed Ascend AI processors. This collaboration is seen as a landmark moment, proving that a high-performance AI model can operate without reliance on Nvidia’s advanced semiconductor technology. The implications of this move are significant, as it challenges the belief that cutting off China’s access to Western AI chips would stifle its progress in artificial intelligence. Analysts at Bernstein, a leading investment research firm, described this development as a direct response to U.S. sanctions, demonstrating China’s growing capability to innovate independently in the AI sector.
Since 2022, the Biden administration has imposed a series of export controls aimed at limiting China’s access to the most powerful AI hardware, particularly Nvidia’s top-tier GPUs. However, DeepSeek’s latest R1 AI model has defied these restrictions by achieving cutting-edge performance at a fraction of the cost of Western alternatives. The success of this model has drawn widespread interest from leading Chinese AI chipmakers, including Tencent-backed Enflame, Baidu’s Kunlunxin, Moore Threads, and Hygon Information Technology. Each of these firms has moved swiftly to integrate DeepSeek into their computing architectures, further reinforcing China’s shift towards domestic AI development.
The effects of DeepSeek’s rise are being felt across China’s technology ecosystem. Major cloud service providers such as Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, Baidu Cloud, and Bytedance have all embraced DeepSeek, integrating it into their platforms and making it widely available to enterprise users. Beyond the cloud sector, China’s largest telecom providers and consumer technology firms, including Lenovo and Geely, have also incorporated DeepSeek’s AI capabilities into their products, expanding its reach to millions of users across various industries.
The growing adoption of DeepSeek underscores the increasing acceptance of open-source AI within China. Industry experts believe this marks a pivotal shift away from proprietary AI models, which have traditionally been the focus of China’s tech giants. According to Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at Omdia, the embrace of DeepSeek by leading corporations signals a fundamental change in the AI landscape. “If an open-source AI model is powerful enough, companies will integrate it, even if they have developed their own competing models,” he explained. The strategy behind this adoption is clear: by integrating DeepSeek into their ecosystems, these companies can attract more developers and businesses to use their cloud services, creating a network effect that strengthens their platforms in the long term.
DeepSeek’s ascent has not been limited to China. The company gained global recognition in January 2025 when its latest AI model surpassed OpenAI’s ChatGPT in global download rankings. Within just 20 days of its launch, DeepSeek’s AI Assistant app had amassed over 22 million daily active users, according to Chinese state media reports. This unprecedented growth has placed DeepSeek’s founder, Liang Wenfeng, at the center of China’s AI revolution, solidifying his reputation as a visionary entrepreneur.
However, DeepSeek’s rapid rise has also sparked geopolitical concerns. Governments around the world are beginning to scrutinize the implications of China’s AI dominance, with several countries imposing restrictions on the use of DeepSeek’s technology. Taiwan and Australia have banned government officials from using the service due to data security concerns, while South Korea has implemented similar restrictions within key ministries. Italy has gone a step further by enforcing a complete ban on DeepSeek’s app, citing unresolved privacy issues. These measures highlight the increasing global tensions surrounding China’s AI advancements and the regulatory hurdles that DeepSeek may face as it expands internationally.
Despite these challenges, DeepSeek’s trajectory remains firmly upward. The company has positioned itself at the forefront of China’s AI ambitions, proving that open-source innovation can rival—and even surpass—proprietary Western models. With major Chinese technology firms aligning themselves with DeepSeek and domestic chipmakers rising to the occasion, China is making a bold statement on the world stage: its AI industry is not only resilient but thriving. As the race for AI supremacy intensifies, DeepSeek’s impact is set to redefine the global artificial intelligence landscape for years to come.
