DeepSeek developing its own AI chip

Chinese startup DeepSeek is developing its own AI chip, reports Reuters citing inside sources. The push could reduce the company’s reliance on Nvidia and Huawei chips, which it has depended on to train and run its globally popular models.

The chip is designed ‌for inference—the stage of AI computing in which a trained model generates responses for users—rather than for training new models, the sources said.

If successful, DeepSeek’s expansion into semiconductor development would mark a major strategic shift for a company widely hailed in China as the country’s AI champion, potentially adding to challenges faced by Chinese tech giant Huawei.