Pat Gelsinger Is Switching His Startup From OpenAI to DeepSeek

DeepSeek just got a major endorsement, with former CEO Pat Gelsinger saying he is switching his startup from using OpenAI to DeepSeek.

DeepSeek took the tech and AI industry by surprise, unveiling an AI model that matches the best from OpenAI, but at a fraction of the cost—as little as $3-$5 million. Even more impressive, the Chinese startup used Nvidia H800, chips specifically designed to comply with US export laws. As a result, the H800 offers less performance than Nvidia’s flagship chips.

The Chinese startup’s success has raised numerous questions regarding the AI industry, not the least of which is whether American companies are overvalued and if the AI bubble is about to burst. There are also questions about the effectiveness of US sanctions on Chinese firms, given that DeepSeek achieved its success using second-rate chips.

Beyond technological and political questions, DeepSeek is already gaining a myriad of fans and users, including Gelsinger. The longtime tech exec took to X to emphasize the transformational impact of DeepSeek’s achievement.

Wisdom is learning the lessons we thought we already knew. DeepSeek reminds us of three important learnings from computing history:

1. Computing obeys the gas law. Making it dramatically cheaper will expand the market for it. The markets are getting it wrong, this will make AI much more broadly deployed.
2. Engineering is about constraints. The Chinese engineers had limited resources, and they had to find creative solutions.
3. Open Wins. DeepSeek will help reset the increasingly closed world of foundational AI model work. Thank you DeepSeek team.

Even more telling, Gelsinger told TechCrunch that his startup, Gloo, was adopting DeepSeek’s R1 model instead of paying for OpenAI’s o1.

“My Gloo engineers are running R1 today,” he said. “They could’ve run o1 — well, they can only access o1, through the APIs.”

Gelsinger went on to say that he believes DeepSeek will help usher in more affordable AI that can be deployed and integrated in far more devices.

“I want better AI in my Oura Ring. I want better AI in my hearing aid. I want more AI in my phone. I want better AI in my embedded devices, like the voice recognition in my EV,” he says.

If Gelsinger’s reaction is any indication, DeepSeek’s impact on the AI and tech industry could be far greater than critics believe—and that’s saying something.

from WebProNews https://ift.tt/d6PMWNS