A Monash expert is available to comment on Chinese startup DeepSeek's cheaper AI, which has sparked investor scrutiny of the billions of dollars US tech giants are investing to develop the technology, and what this could mean for researchers and end users.
Professor Geoff Webb, Department of Data Science & AI, Faculty of Information Technology
Contact details: +61 450 501 248 or [email protected]
Read more of Professor Webb’s commentary on Monash Lens
- Fundamentals of AI
- Machine learning
- Data mining
The following can be attributed to Professor Webb:
“The emergence of DeepSeek is a significant moment in the AI revolution. Until now it has seemed that billion dollar investments and access to the latest generation of specialised NVIDIA processors were prerequisites for developing state-of-the-art systems.
“This effectively limited control to a small number of leading US-based tech corporations. Due to US embargoes on exporting the latest generation of NVIDIA processors, it also locked out China.
“DeepSeek claims to have developed a new Large Language Model, similar to Chat GPT or Llama, that rivals the state-of-the-art for a fraction of the cost using the less advanced NVIDIA processors that are currently available to China. If this is true, it means that the US tech sector no longer has exclusive control of the AI technologies, opening them to wider competition and reducing the prices they can charge for access to and use of their systems.
“Looking beyond the implications for the stock market, current AI technologies are US-centric and embody US values and culture. This new development has the potential to create more diversity through the development of new AI systems.
“It also has the potential to make AI more accessible for researchers around the world both for developing new technologies and for applying them in diverse areas including healthcare.”
For any other topics on which you may be seeking expert comment, contact the Monash University Media Unit on +61 3 9903 4840 or [email protected]