DeepSeek's new AI model V4 adapted to run on Huawei chips

Huawei said its chips were used in some of the V4's training process.DeepSeek's pivot underscores concerns raised by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and others that the US firm risks losing its developer ecosystem in China due to US export controls and Beijing's self-sufficiency push.The day that DeepSeek comes out on Huawei first, that is a horrible outcome for our ‌nation, Huang said in a Dwarkesh Podcast interview this month.Huawei and DeepSeek's close collaborationDeepSeek has often been hit with accusations by Washington and US rivals that its success owes much to the improper use of US know-how, and Friday's launch comes one day after the White House accused China of stealing US AI labs' intellectual property ‌on an industrial scale.It was not clear, however, if the issue is large enough to strain relations ‌ahead of a visit by US President Donald Trump to Beijing next month to meet with China's leader, Xi Jinping.For its part, DeepSeek ‌has acknowledged the use of Nvidia chips but has not commented ‌on whether those particular chips were subject to export bans. It has also said it has not intentionally used synthetic data generated by OpenAI.Washington began to restrict China's access to advanced AI chips made by US firms in 2022 and since ‌then Beijing has accelerated its push to achieve tech self-sufficiency.Huawei said it had worked closely with DeepSeek so the new V4 models could run across its full line of high-performance Ascend systems.Nvidia now faces even more of an uphill battle in regaining market share in China.The Trump administration in January gave the green light for Nvidia's powerful H200 chips to be sold in China but sources have said that shipments have been stymied by disagreements over the terms of the sales both in China and the USNvidia's shares were flat in pre-market trading. Chinese chipmakers rallied on expectations for wider use of homegrown chips, with Huahong Semiconductor and SMIC surging 15 and 10 respectively.DeepSeek now faces many rivalsMany Western and some Asian governments have banned their institutions and officials from using DeepSeek, citing data privacy concerns. Nevertheless, DeepSeek's models have consistently been among the most used on international platforms that host open-source models.In China, despite rocketing to national champion status a year ago, its lead has evaporated amid a slew of competitive offerings from domestic rivals.DeepSeek said on Friday that the V4 would be particularly suited to AI agent work, which can execute more complex tasks than chatbots but needs more computing power.Just how successful it will be remains to be seen.The rapid iteration of new AI models makes it difficult to determine an ultimate winner. We believe the market is not a 'winner-takes-all' scenario; instead, success will depend ‌on monetization, adoption rates, and sustainable revenue from services, Citi analysts said in a note.That said, the release of the V4 sent shares of rivals tumbling, with Zhipu AI and MiniMax both losing 9.The V4 also comes in a lower-cost Flash version. Preview versions allow the company to incorporate real-world feedback and make changes ahead of a final product launch. DeepSeek did not provide a timeline for when the model is expected to be finalised.Owned by China's High-Flyer Capital Management, DeepSeek is aiming to raise funds at a valuation exceeding 20 billion, according to a report by The Information this month, which also said that tech giants Alibaba and Tencent were in discussions to take stakes.