September 19, 2025 10:04 AM

China’s DeepSeek says its hit AI model cost just $294,000 to train

Chinese AI developer DeepSeek said it spent $294,000 on training its R1 model, much lower than figures reported for U.S. rivals, in a paper that is likely to reignite debate over Beijing's place in the race to develop artificial intelligence. The rare update from the Hangzhou-based company - the first estimate it has released of R1's training costs - appeared in a peer-reviewed article in the academic journal Nature published on Wednesday. DeepSeek's release of what it said were lower-cost AI ...