DeepSeek didn’t come out of nowhere. But it seemed to catch Silicon Valley and global investors by surprise this week, to the tune of billions of dollars in stock market value.
The startup released its latest product on Jan. 20, but it has been around since 2023 and quietly rolled out impressive AI models last year. So why did it seem to catch powerful U.S. tech billionaires entirely off guard?
The DeepSeek shock exposes an uncomfortable truth: American tech exceptionalism and the xenophobia that underpins it mean the broligarchy will keep being surprised.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.