Silicon Valley was caught off guard when Chinese AI startup DeepSeek topped Apple’s App Store in the artificial intelligence assistant category. Beating OpenAI’s ChatGPT, DeepSeek’s popularity has created a big stir in the tech world. But this new found success has put the company in a tough spot as it’s being hit with non-stop cyber attacks that’s affecting its daily operations.
Cyber attacks Force Registration Limits
Because of these attacks, DeepSeek has temporarily stopped new user sign-ups to keep its platform stable. While the limits are in place, existing users can continue to use the service as usual. In a statement, the company addressed its users while trying to sort out the security issues.
Timing is everything, especially since the attacks came after reports that DeepSeek’s rise has taken $384 billion off NVIDIA’s valuation. If that’s not enough, things got even more complicated with the Chinese government announcing a one trillion yuan investment to strengthen its AI industry.
A New Player in the AI Space
DeepSeek, founded in 2023, just released its first model, the R1, last week and it’s already a big player to industry giants like OpenAI and Google. The rapid growth of this startup is sending shockwaves across the tech world with established players like Gemini from Google already feeling the heat from other AI tools.
The popularity also puts a spotlight on the bigger picture for the global AI market. While some say U.S. investors and big tech companies will start to feel the heat from DeepSeek’s rise, all of these will be seen in due time in the next few weeks.
Speculations and Geopolitics
The cyber attacks on DeepSeek have spawned a lot of speculations as to its origin but none are based on facts. Whether these attacks are coordinated or not, they show the risks of playing in this competitive and political sensitive industry.
The world is also waiting to see what the U.S. government under Donald Trump will do with DeepSeek’s success. Analysts say it’s likely to be part of a bigger move to counter China’s rise in the AI space.
Future of DeepSeek
DeepSeek’s meteoric rise shows the changing landscape of the global AI industry. Whether it will sustain the growth and become a long term player to the giants remains to be seen as it faces cybersecurity threats and geopolitics.
“Due to large-scale malicious attacks on DeepSeek’s services, registration may be busy. Please wait and try again. Registered users can log in normally. Thank you for your understanding and support.”
Source: DeepSeek
