DeepSeek, a Chinese company specializing in AI development, quickly gained popularity thanks to its new models. Its mobile app reached first place in the App Store charts in the US and 51 other countries. In just a few days, the app collected 2.6 million downloads—twice as many as last week. The main reason for this growth was the new AI models released by DeepSeek, competing with OpenAI and Google.
However, DeepSeek’s success was overshadowed by cyberattacks that forced the company to temporarily restrict new user registrations. Initially, registration was allowed only for users with Chinese phone numbers, but this requirement has now been lifted. Currently, users can register via Google and Apple ID, as well as email.
Despite the attacks, existing users can continue using the app without interruption. DeepSeek remains in first place in the App Store in 111 countries and ranks 14th in Google Play. This demonstrates that new players in the AI market can quickly gain popularity, even when competing with giants like ChatGPT.
DeepSeek’s success has raised concerns among major tech companies. They are analyzing DeepSeek’s model training methods, which have enabled significant cost reductions. This has impacted the market, particularly Nvidia shares, which fell by 17%. The AI industry is closely monitoring developments, as DeepSeek could change the approach to model training.
