With its massive language models that rival their Western counterparts in performance but at a fraction of the price, Hangzhou-based DeepSeek has caused a stir in the AI sector this year. With DeepSeek touted as proof that U.S. efforts to restrict China’s technical progress will not impede them, this accomplishment has inspired pride in the country.
Liang Wenfeng, the company’s founder, has won praise from Chinese authorities, and DeepSeek is getting ready to launch R2, the reasoning model that replaces R1.
Leading IT companies like Huawei and Tencent have recently announced plans to include DeepSeek’s AI models into their products, joining other big home appliance makers including Haier, Hisense, and TCL Electronics.
Even though a lot of these household appliances are already “smart” and can be controlled by voice, DeepSeek’s models will improve accuracy. DeepSeek-R1’s semantic parsing capabilities, for example, could help a robotic vacuum cleaner navigate obstacles more quickly and precisely. The gadget may be able to obey intricate instructions like “Gently wax the wooden floor in the master bedroom but avoid the Legos,” according to industry analyst Liu Xingliang.
