China’s DeepSeek says its hit AI model cost just $294,000 to train

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

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