DeepSeek is hiring for dozens of positions related to artificial general intelligence (AGI) research and development in Hangzhou and Beijing, according to information on parent company High-Flyer Quant's website and several other job boards.

According to SCMP , on the first working day after Tet, a number of young candidates were present at DeepSeek headquarters in the hope of being recruited or making connections.

deepseek shutterstock
DeepSeek is hiring for dozens of AGI-related positions. Photo: Shutterstock

One applicant, surnamed Shen, said he drove four days – from Sichuan to Hangzhou – to apply for a job in what he called a “national pride” for its AI achievements. Shen said he wanted to do anything there, including cleaning staff or driving.

The enthusiasm of young Chinese reflects the general admiration at home and abroad for DeepSeek after the startup announced two AI models V3 and R1.

DeepSeek claims to have developed them at a fraction of the cost of competitors like OpenAI, but with no less power.

Chatbot DeepSeek using R1 reasoning model has quickly risen to the top of the list of free apps in the US and Chinese App Stores.

On February 5, Guangdong Provincial Party Secretary Huang Kunming praised DeepSeek for taking on American AI giants with “courage and strength.” He was the first Chinese official to publicly praise the startup.

DeepSeek’s reputation will certainly make it easier for the company to recruit in the current climate. While the domestic AI industry is booming, there is not enough talent to fill the gaps, according to job site Maimai.

A job posting on Boss Zhipin for a “deep learning researcher in AGI” at DeepSeek’s Beijing office offers a maximum monthly salary of 100,000 yuan for candidates with a master’s degree and publications in internationally recognized publications, with no experience required.

For positions related to deep learning systems, data research and full-stack development, salary packages range from 700,000 to 1.2 million yuan/year.

The company touts its ability to build “leading GPU compute clusters” as an advantage in attracting young talent, while also promising researchers more time to experiment with ideas.

SCMP commented that DeepSeek's move will heat up the AI headhunting war in China. Demand for natural language processing personnel increased by 111% between January and June 2024, according to a report from Peking University and recruitment platform Zhilian Zhaopin. Demand for deep learning personnel increased by 61%.

DeepSeek credits its AI achievements to the “young prodigies” in its development team, most of whom are Chinese and studied at top universities such as Tsinghua and Beijing.

In an interview with 36Kr in 2023, DeepSeek founder and CEO Liang Wenfeng shared that almost all of their developers are recent graduates or have just entered the AI field, in line with the company's orientation of prioritizing ability over experience.

(According to SCMP)