Sparking a global AI frenzy, DeepSeek’s release surpassed ChatGPT’s popularity with a 50-fold surge in Google Trends, raising concerns in Silicon Valley and tech industries worldwide.
The release of DeepSeek, a new artificial intelligence (AI) model, sparked a significant wave of interest, particularly after its underlying technology was made open source. By Monday, January 27, the platform had seen a dramatic 50-fold increase in its Google Trends score, rising from two to 100 between January 20 and 27, according to Finbold’s research.
Despite initial excitement in the West, global trends on January 27 showed that DeepSeek’s popularity was highest in China, where it scored 100, with Hong Kong coming second at 22.
Notably, no Western countries featured in the top ten for search interest, with Singapore, Tunisia, Morocco, Nepal, Algeria, Ethiopia, Jordan, and Kenya topping the list instead.
In terms of search interest, DeepSeek surpassed OpenAI’s ChatGPT globally on January 27. DeepSeek maintained a slight edge throughout the day with a Google Trends score of 28 compared to ChatGPT’s 25. At its peak, DeepSeek’s score reached 100, while ChatGPT’s was at 39, marking a notable shift in AI platform popularity.
This rise in DeepSeek’s visibility is even more remarkable given that ChatGPT, despite facing competition from companies like Anthropic, Alphabet, and Microsoft, had reportedly remained dominant in AI searches as recently as January 21.
The surge also propelled DeepSeek’s mobile app to the top of the Google Play Store, leading the company to suspend smartphone registrations outside China, citing overwhelming demand and reports of “malicious attacks.” However, the desktop version of DeepSeek remains available worldwide.
The release of DeepSeek, especially with its open source framework, has sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley, triggering a sharp decline in stock prices. On January 27, the S&P 500 fell by 1.46%, and the Nasdaq 100 dropped 2.97%.
Nvidia saw its stock plummet by 16.86%, losing $600 billion in market value—the largest one-day drop in a single company’s valuation on record. Other tech giants have also experienced significant losses.
The swift rise of DeepSeek has raised concerns about the viability of investments in AI, particularly given the low development cost of DeepSeek, which is reported to be just $6 million. This has left many questioning the returns on billions of dollars invested in competing AI companies.
Despite the turbulence, the introduction of DeepSeek has positively impacted consumers, according to Finbold. OpenAI’s Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT would roll out additional features for paid users in response to the competition.
However, some have suggested that countries must impose restrictions on Chinese AI platforms or limit the use of open source AI models, drawing comparisons to previous protectionist moves against China’s electric vehicle industry.
