Suddenly artificial intelligence (AI) is on people’s lips again…well, in their screens. Many had lost interest, speculated on AI’s demise and assumed that because they no longer found random image generating fun, that it was no longer a thing. But with revelations about Chinese AI DeepSeek, the technology is no longer moving as slowly as was once expected.

Most importantly, the bloated American models—who for a time held a monopoly—have been surpassed. DeepSeek was intialy open source and once unleashed onto the world became the most downloaded app on Apple. DeepSeek had previously released good AI models, but now people are taking note. Even if DeepSeek is all hype, it’s shown how reactionary human beings are—from governments, to corporations, to individuals.

DeepSeek has shown that it is possible to have an AI model that does not require vast amounts of money, chips, and energy. There have been claims that the Chinese company stole from OpenAI. But everything about the American models require that the software learns from consuming and then emulating everything humans have ever done online. Numerous media outlets and authors are at present suing OpenAI for stealing articles and text which were used to train their model.

The scramble to catch up is on, even if just for saving face. Many have claimed that this is even a Sputnik moment.Competition is good and monopolies suck, especially for technology. Chinese tech giant Alibaba was able to beat Google to the market with its own response to DeepSeek. The Alibaba model is under an open license, again—unlike the American tech companies who remain very protective of their properties.