CEO of Dutch chipmaker ASML on why DeepSeek’s R1 model is ‘good news’ for AI

The CEO of Dutch chipmaking giant ASML, Christophe Fouquet, has projected optimism for the AI industry despite the recent market turmoil caused by the emergence of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek and its model R1.During ASML’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Fouquet said that onlookers shouldn’t have been so surprised by the arrival of a new player in the AI race, saying that the industry must expect such “elephants in the room”.

“I know some of you, maybe, were surprised in the last few days that a new company suddenly comes and wants to compete.