Chinese AI company DeepSeek has officially launched DeepSeek-R1, a reasoning-focused artificial intelligence (AI) model, marking a significant step in the open-source AI landscape. The model, unveiled on Monday, is the full version of its earlier preview release from two months ago. DeepSeek-R1 is designed to be both accessible and versatile, available for download as an open-source model and deployable via a plug-and-play application programming interface (API). According to DeepSeek, their latest model outperforms OpenAI’s o1 in key areas such as mathematics, coding, and reasoning, positioning it as a strong competitor in the rapidly evolving AI field.
The DeepSeek-R1 series includes two variants: DeepSeek-R1 and DeepSeek-R1-Zero. Both models are distilled from DeepSeek V3, a larger language model (LLM) developed by the company. A key innovation behind these models is their mixture-of-experts (MoE) architecture, a system where multiple smaller models collaborate to enhance performance while optimizing computational efficiency. This architecture enables DeepSeek-R1 to maintain high reasoning capabilities while reducing the computing power needed for deployment.
To ensure accessibility, DeepSeek has made the DeepSeek-R1 models available for download on Hugging Face, a popular platform for AI and machine learning research. The models are released under an MIT license, allowing both academic researchers and commercial entities to integrate them into their workflows without legal constraints. For those who prefer a more straightforward implementation, DeepSeek offers an API-based access, enabling seamless model deployment without requiring extensive hardware resources.
One of the standout features of DeepSeek-R1 is its cost-effectiveness. The company has announced highly competitive inference pricing, claiming that running DeepSeek-R1 costs 90 to 95 percent less than OpenAI’s o1 model. This pricing strategy could make the model a compelling choice for businesses and developers looking for powerful AI solutions at a fraction of the cost. With its combination of strong reasoning capabilities, open-source availability, and affordability, DeepSeek-R1 has the potential to disrupt the current AI landscape and challenge industry leaders like OpenAI.
