The west is already losing the AI arms race | Larry Elliott

Whatever the truth about DeepSeek, China’s tech sector is light years ahead on strategy and investment

For once, Donald Trump was not guilty of hyperbole. The arrival of a budget Chinese chatbot called DeepSeek to rival ChatGPT really is a wake-up call. It is a wake-up call to the US tech giants. It is a wake-up call to Wall Street. It is a wake-up call to any developed nation keen to enter the AI race.

All of that is true even if it turns out that DeepSeek is not all it is cracked up to be. If it is the real deal then the Chinese have created a premium-quality AI product that is available freely and at a tiny cost. That’s quite something. In 1957, the US was stunned when the Soviet Union became the first country to launch an artificial satellite. It has been equally taken aback by the arrival of DeepSeek. Truly this would be a Sputnik moment.

Larry Elliott is a Guardian columnist

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