Staff Reports
OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman recently took a stab at the so-called groundbreaking AI model introduced by the Chinese firm DeepSeek, much to the amusement of the Silicon Valley elite. This new R1 model, which the buzz suggests was whipped up for a paltry $5.6 million, has apparently been way overblown, according to Altman, who noted that the capabilities of DeepSeek’s latest gadgetry are not exactly what one would call revolutionary. It seems he believes this new toy is nothing more than a shiny wrapper around software that’s been around in the West for quite some time.
To paint a clearer picture, Altman rejoiced in the notion that the R1’s performance wasn’t anything to sneeze at—but it wasn’t the miraculous leap forward some might lead you to believe. Comparing its capabilities to OpenAI’s earlier creations, it’s blatantly obvious that DeepSeek’s so-called advancements are more of a rehash than a real revolution. This bit of news wasn’t just gossip in a tech forum; it sent shockwaves through the tech sector, as investors suddenly realized that all those wild predictions about spiraling AI training costs might have been a wee bit dramatic.
Chinese AI Bombshell Was Tech We Already Had, American Founder Says: What was all of this about? A distraction from the Chinese? A distraction from the United States? A move to tank Nvidia and crush some investors while making other richer? Or something… https://t.co/7jZcZhyR9L pic.twitter.com/fks6Ip496o
— The Western Journal (@WestJournalism) February 10, 2025
The financial figures do provide a comical backdrop—while DeepSeek boasts a $5.6 million investment, Altman’s team revealed that their own ChatGPT-4 was concocted for somewhere between $41 million and $78 million, at least according to the usual suspects at Forbes. Oh, and for those still clinging to curiosity about other players, Google’s Gemini reportedly lingered somewhere between $30 million and $191 million pre-salaries. It’s almost like watching a game show of who can spend the most to say they did the least.
In a dramatic turn of events for the stock market, the announcement from DeepSeek sent established AI firms like Nvidia into a tizzy, prompting a sell-off that would make even casual traders sit up and take notice. Of course, Altman was quick to remind everyone that beyond the surface of astonishing budgets lies the harsh reality of the cost of “frontier models.” It appears magic beans may have been in short supply, given his stance on how far technology can really go without a heavy cash infusion.
Meanwhile, OpenAI has been busy keeping an eye on things, throwing shade regarding the possibility that DeepSeek might have borrowed some “inspiration” from its own models. This incited murmurs about ethical practices in AI development, showing that the back-and-forth in this emerging tech battleground is just getting started. Adding to the fun, the former President Trump has recently made headlines by revoking an earlier executive order put in place by President Biden, designed to impose government checks on AI development. Instead, Trump champions a new wave of freedom for private sector innovation—exactly the kind of policy that could spur American technological dominance over any foreign competitors with too much hype and not enough substance.
