**DeepSeek: The AI Company Disrupting the Industry and US Markets**
China’s AI firm, DeepSeek, has made waves in the AI sector and financial markets by surpassing ChatGPT as the most downloaded free app in the United States. Founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek has quickly gained attention.
**Who is Liang Wenfeng?**
Liang Wenfeng, a 40-year-old Chinese entrepreneur, has a strong background in finance. He co-founded the quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer in 2015 after graduating from Zhejiang University. At High-Flyer, he utilized AI-driven trading strategies to forecast market trends and inform investment decisions.
In 2021, Liang began acquiring thousands of Nvidia graphics processors for an AI side project, prior to the US government’s restrictions on AI chip exports to China. Initially, those around him viewed this endeavor as a quirky hobby without a clear objective. One business partner recalled, “When we first met him, he was this very nerdy guy with a terrible hairstyle talking about building a 10,000-chip cluster to train his own models. We didn’t take him seriously.” Liang struggled to convey his vision, stating only, “I want to build this, and it will be a game changer,” which many believed was a feat only achievable by major companies like ByteDance and Alibaba.
**Liang Wenfeng’s Vision for DeepSeek**
Despite being perceived as a side project at first, Liang was deeply involved in DeepSeek’s development and research. He aims to establish DeepSeek as a leading AI company in China by attracting top talent from local universities and offering competitive salaries comparable to those at ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.
DeepSeek recently launched an AI-enabled platform designed for tasks such as natural language processing, data analysis, and various machine learning applications, positioning itself similarly to ChatGPT.
**Impact of DeepSeek on US Markets**
Following its launch, DeepSeek’s influence was felt in the US markets, leading to significant declines, particularly among major tech stocks. Nvidia experienced a 17% drop, while the Nasdaq Composite fell by 5% on Monday. At one point, the Nasdaq Composite’s decline wiped out over $1 trillion from its value, closing down 3.1% after reaching a total of $32.5 trillion the previous week.
