Silicon Valley was recently shaken by news that DeepSeek's latest AI model is outperforming OpenAI's model in some tests. This news has sparked a wave of curiosity among South Korean smartphone users, leading to a surge in downloads of the DeepSeek app.

DeepSeek launched its inference-optimized model 'R1' on January 20th. The company claims that R1 outperformed OpenAI's 'o1' model in certain tests, including the American Mathematics Competitions benchmark.   

Foreign media outlets have been reporting on DeepSeek's impact on Silicon Valley since January 24th (US local time). DeepSeek revealed that the development cost of its AI model 'DeepSeek-V3', released last December, was only 5,576,000 dollars (about 8 billion won). This is a fraction of the cost compared to other AI models developed by major tech companies.   

What's particularly noteworthy is that DeepSeek developed its generative AI using Nvidia H800 chips. This means that a Chinese startup has created an AI model that outperforms global tech giants using less powerful hardware.   

As US stock markets, including Nvidia, were shaken by this news, DeepSeek began to attract attention in South Korea. As DeepSeek's popularity grew, so did the number of South Korean smartphone users eager to try the DeepSeek app.

The number of DeepSeek app installations surged from about 4,400 on January 25th to 68,636 on January 27th and 171,257 on January 28th. The number of DeepSeek app users also increased dramatically from about 5,000 on January 25th to about 200,000 by January 28th.

However, DeepSeek has yet to surpass ChatGPT, the leading generative AI app. ChatGPT's daily average user count from January 20th to 28th was around 580,000.

DeepSeek is currently ranked high in the free app download charts on both major South Korean app markets (Google Play and Apple App Store). The number of DeepSeek app users is expected to continue to grow.

The number of app users reflects only a portion of the overall interest in DeepSeek, as it does not include web service users. Considering this, the level of interest in DeepSeek among South Korean consumers is likely to be even higher.

In conclusion, DeepSeek's emergence as a major player in the AI field has sent ripples throughout Silicon Valley and beyond. Its ability to achieve impressive results with limited resources has captured the attention of both industry experts and the general public. While it remains to be seen whether DeepSeek can maintain its momentum and ultimately challenge the dominance of established players like ChatGPT, its impact on the AI landscape is undeniable.

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