Cathie Wood Welcomes AI Competition as DeepSeek Could Lower Costs

Cathie Wood, CEO and CIO of Ark Invest, has expressed her excitement about the growing competition in the AI sector, particularly with the emergence of DeepSeek. The Chinese startup has gained global attention for its large language models, DeepSeek-V3 and R1, which offer advanced performance at a fraction of the cost of competitors like OpenAI's ChatGPT.
DeepSeek's models have been trained at a cost of less than $6 million (£5 million) worth of computing power from Nvidia H800 chips, compared to the reported $100 million or more spent on training ChatGPT. This significant cost reduction has the potential to democratize AI, making it more accessible to businesses and individuals alike.
Wood, who has long been an advocate for AI and its potential to transform industries, sees this development as a positive for the sector. "Innovation is going to scale dramatically as the economy begins to get rid of regulations under this new administration and take off once again," she stated in a recent tweet.
The lower training costs offered by DeepSeek could accelerate AI adoption and innovation across various industries. This could lead to increased accessibility for smaller companies and startups, as well as faster research and development in AI technologies. Additionally, the open-source approach of DeepSeek could encourage more collaboration and innovation in the AI community.
However, it is essential to consider the potential challenges and ethical implications that may arise from this development. Industries may need to invest in reskilling and upskilling their workforce to adapt to AI-driven changes, and ethical considerations, such as data privacy and AI bias, should be addressed to ensure responsible AI development and deployment.
In conclusion, Cathie Wood welcomes the competition brought by DeepSeek, as it could lower costs and accelerate AI adoption and innovation across various industries. However, it is crucial to consider the potential challenges and ethical implications that may arise from this development to ensure responsible AI development and deployment.