Shankar Sharma, the founder of GQuant’s statement on a social media post on X, erstwhile Twitter, has sparked a debate.
Essentially, DeepSeek has proven that it is possible to develop AI models at a fraction of the cost. So billions of dollars in investment from the world’s largest tech players in AI have now come under a cloud
Shankar Sharma, the founder of GQuant’s statement on a social media post on X, erstwhile Twitter, has sparked a debate.
In his post, Sharma wrote, "I am absolutely delighted that China has kicked America’s ass, on a structural, long-term basis. Bahut ho gaya tha Trump, Musk, Andreessen, Ackman, et al, ka strutting, and bullying of Rest of the world. Now, shut the @#$& up and become humble."
While some praised Sharma, others said that the comment was not in good taste. One user pointed out that Sharma has a ‘pathological hatred’ against the United States, while another user said that competition in AI is good for the world.
Chinese Startup DeepSeek launched AI models that they claimed were at par or better than the top AI players in the United States. Also, this was launched at a fraction of the cost. The DeepSeek AI assistant app rose to the top of the Apple App Store.
This led to a $1 trillion rout in American tech stocks as investors questioned billions of dollars in expenditure planned by American tech giants like Microsoft Corp., Meta Technologies Inc., and Alphabet Inc. in AI technology.
Essentially, DeepSeek has proven that it is possible to develop AI models at a fraction of the cost. So billions of dollars in investment from the world’s largest tech players in AI have now come under the cloud.
Chipmaker NVIDIA saw the biggest loss with $600 billion wiped off its market cap.
The shockwaves were felt in India too. Telecom, IT, and Technology were among the top sectors with made losses with three per cent losses each. The NIFTY IT Index dropped 3.36 per cent, its biggest single-day decline since July 17, 2023.
However, experts have said that investors need not worry in the current scenario.
The world was introduced to generative AI when ChatGPT was launched in November 2022. While ChatGPT has released more advanced models since then, other players like Meta AI and Google’s Gemini also launched their services. Nobody had expected a Chinese startup to challenge the status quo so suddenly.
While Elon Musk has expressed skepticism about the capabilities of DeepSeek, US President Donald Trump warned that DeepSeek should serve as a wake-up call for America’s AI industry.
However, DeepSeek has shown bias in its responses. For example, any query on the Tiananmen Square massacre is not being answered by DeepSeek which is saying that it is an AI assistant designed to provide helpful and harmless responses.
With DeepSeek AI, the AI race has hotted up. Many have also expressed concerns that India has a long way to go before it can play a significant role in the AI world.
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