DeepSeek founder says company is focused on AGI over profit

BEIJING: DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng told investors the Chinese artificial intelligence startup is prioritising the pursuit of long-term artificial general intelligence rather than maximising profits.

The remarks were made during a recent four-hour meeting with investors. Liang also told investors that the company is likely to keep its most advanced models open-source, while arguing that open-source development and commercial monetisation can coexist.

Open-source strategy and growth

DeepSeek drew global attention early last year after its low-cost V3 and R1 models challenged assumptions about China’s ability to compete with leading US artificial intelligence companies despite Washington’s restrictions on exports of advanced chips.

The company has recently completed its first fundraising round at an approximate valuation of $52 billion. The move marked a reversal of its earlier strategy of declining outside capital over several years, as competition in China’s AI sector intensified from major technology companies such as ByteDance and well-funded startups including Moonshot and Z.ai.

Computing power seen as key constraint

At the investor meeting, Liang described computing capacity as the company’s biggest limitation. He said the main gap between China and the United States lay in access to resources rather than technical expertise.

Liang also said DeepSeek intends to build its own large artificial intelligence computing clusters in the future, but the company has not yet decided whether it will develop proprietary AI chips.

He was quoted as saying:

I hope to be able to buy chips at a reasonable price so that I don't have to make chips myself.

US export restrictions remain in focus

The United States has already restricted exports to China of some of the most advanced AI chips. Reuters has also reported that Washington has so far held back from placing DeepSeek, Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT and more than 100 other entities identified as national security risks on a trade blacklist, in an effort to avoid further raising tensions with Beijing.