After a global success, DeepSeek's homeland has ambitions to become the world's leading technology 'incubator'

Zhejiang Province (China) - home to artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek and many other companies, is striving to become the world's leading "incubator" for advanced technology.

China's newly launched AI startup DeepSeek has overwhelmed ChatGPT, causing a stir in the world's technology community. (Source: Reuters)

A young and modest-sized Chinese AI company (less than 200 employees) has just shocked the world technology industry after announcing breakthroughs in AI technology, thereby opening a new era in the global AI industry.

Although it was only established in May 2023 in Hangzhou city (Zhejiang province, China), DeepSeek has launched AI models with outstanding features and is considered to be superior to ChatGPT - the AI ​​platform that has "made waves" in the technology market for about 2 years, or recently Claude of Anthropic.

Located in the east of the country, Zhejiang province - home to DeepSeek and e-commerce giant Alibaba - is emerging as a new startup hub in China and the world. The provincial government is full of hope that Zhejiang will be at the forefront of China's strong push to conquer and master AI and other high-tech - directly competing with the US's leadership.

“Zhejiang will continue to promote support for the AI ​​industry and strive to build the province into an innovative powerhouse of China,” said Du Xuliang, director of the provincial Development and Reform Commission.

The January 20 launch of DeepSeek’s massive R1 language model — open-source software that rivals the latest language processors from industry leader OpenAI at a fraction of the cost — sent shockwaves through the tech world and prompted US President Donald Trump to warn that DeepSeek’s arrival was a “wake-up call” for Silicon Valley.

The market reacted quickly to DeepSeek, with the stock price of semiconductor giant Nvidia plummeting from $142 on January 24 to $128.99 on January 28. DeepSeek is not the only Zhejiang-based tech company making waves.

The provincial capital, Hangzhou, is also home to China's famous robot manufacturer Unitree and Game Science, the developer of the popular action game Black Myth: Wukong .

Mr. Du Xuliang also said that Zhejiang's ambition is to bring the province's total computing capacity to no less than 100 eflops - 100 trillion floating-point calculations per second - by the end of 2025 (each eflops is equivalent to one billion billion floating-point calculations per second).

As of September, China's total computing power reached 246 Eflops, according to data from the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In the coming time, Zhejiang province will introduce favorable policies to help AI companies maximize their computing power and train models to “significantly cut costs,” according to Du Xuliang.

Zhang Zhiwei, chairman and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said the emergence of DeepSeek has changed investors’ sentiment about China – a domestic achievement that has shifted their focus away from macroeconomic challenges.

“Clearly, DeepSeek’s success will likely spur Beijing to further develop private-sector technological innovation. AI has been a top priority for many years,” Zhang said, adding that investors are beginning to see China’s private-sector innovation as globally competitive.

“What is interesting is that this breakthrough was not achieved by government- backed research institutes or large state-owned enterprises but by a hedge fund without [direct] government subsidies. This is a clear example of the effectiveness of the private sector,” Zhang cited.

Last week – the same day as R1’s release but before the model caused a global uproar – DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng and several prominent industry representatives met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

Asserting in an interview with state media last week, Hangzhou city chief Yao Gaoyuan said the city would never cut support for tech startups.

"No matter how tight our finances are, we will not cut back on investment in science and technology," said Yao Gaoyuan.

A professor at Zhejiang Gongshang University said the locality is reaping the benefits of years of cooperation between the tech community and the government.

"The success of companies like Alibaba, the high salaries, the developed ecosystem and the good living environment in Zhejiang have attracted many technology graduates to come here. So we can say we have an abundant source of talent," he said.

According to this professor, although many startups may fail, companies with potential and affirming their position will always receive maximum support from local authorities: "Both President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang have worked in Zhejiang for many years and understand the dynamism of the technology environment here."

“Zhejiang will be the face of China's innovation,” he said.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/sau-thanh-cong-chan-dong-toan-cau-que-huong-cua-deepseek-nuoi-tham-vong-tro-thanh-lo-ap-cong-nghe-hang-dau-the-gioi-300307.html