A year on from DeepSeek shock, get set for flurry of low-cost Chinese AI models

One year after Chinese startup DeepSeek rattled the global tech industry with the release of a low-cost artificial intelligence model, its domestic rivals are better prepared, vying with it to launch new models, some designed with more consumer appeal.

The Hangzhou-based firm’s meteoric rise in early 2025, during China’s Spring Festival holiday, upended China’s AI industry, ​pushing low-cost, open-source models to the forefront of its AI ecosystem.