What is DeepSeek?

It’s the Chinese company behind a new AI chatbot that’s shocked the tech world. It was much cheaper to make than other top AI chatbots, like ChatGPT, and it quickly shot to the top spot as the most popular free app on both the App Store and Google Play in the US and the UK.

How have people reacted to DeepSeek?

It’s damaged confidence in US tech firms, whose AI systems are more expensive. US President Donald Trump said that it should be a “wake-up call” for its American rivals to be “laser-focused on competing to win”.

What are the risks of using AI chatbots?

AI might seem like it knows everything, but it doesn’t. Last week, we brought you a story about Google’s AI producing incorrect news headlines. DeepSeek itself hides information that makes China look bad; it won’t tell you about Tiananmen Square, a site where China’s government killed student protesters in 1989. Experts say people shouldn’t share their personal information with DeepSeek, as it’s unknown what the Chinese government might do with their private data.

What does this mean for the future?

Dr Andrew Duncan, a director at the Alan Turing Institute, told the BBC: “DeepSeek is demonstrating that you don’t need vast resources to build AI models. My guess is we’ll start to see [more] highly-capable AI models being developed, with ever-fewer resources.”