Chinese company, DeepSeek, has emerged as a new, cheaper and equally effective artificial technology alternative to Open AI.
Dr Jason Pallant, retail and business technologies
"The speed of DeepSeek's emergence, and the associated stock crashes for firms like Nvidia, shows how fast-moving and competitive the AI space is.
"Just this week with Trump's 'Stargate Project' announcement, we saw how much the US is investing in existing AI leaders, including OpenAI, and the strategy to create and own massive data centres for training and operating AI models.
"However, what is now especially clear is that the methods behind AI are still evolving, and they aren't owned by any one company or country.
"Where existing models use extensive amounts of data centres and computer chips to train and operate their model, DeepSeek has reportedly innovated the process of training. The result is reportedly on par with the best on the market, yet at significantly lower investment.
"DeepSeek is significantly cheaper to interact with, and some parts are even open source, presenting an opportunity for companies and brands to develop their own AI in ways not seen before.
"It also presents a challenge to existing commercial models; why pay millions for someone else's model when one is freely available? This could have major implications for enterprise models like OpenAI which seek to license their platform for the development of AI products and services.
"Expect these operators to respond quickly and at scale, which ultimately will only further push the AI space forward."
Dr Jason Pallant is frequently published on the impact of emerging technologies on consumer behaviour, particularly in retail. He is the only Australian academic named to Re:Think Retail's list of Global Top Retail Experts in 2023 and 2024, and is a judge for multiple national retail awards, alongside his academic and consulting work.
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