The DeepSeek app seen in Beijing on January 27, 2025. Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images Reuters —

Chinese artificial intelligence developer DeepSeek spent just $294,000 on training its R1 model, much less than reported for US rivals, it said in a paper that is likely to reignite debate over Beijing’s place in the AI race.

The rare update from the Hangzhou-based company – the first estimate it has released of R1’s training costs – appeared Wednesday in a peer-reviewed article in the academic journal Nature.

DeepSeek’s release of what it said were lower-cost AI systems in January prompted global investors to dump tech stocks as they worried the new models could threaten the dominance of AI leaders including Nvidia.

Since then, the company and its founder Liang Wenfeng have largely dis

See Full Page