Hailed as the gamechanger for AI, DeepSeek shook the world and rocked the stock markets – and was then hit by a huge cyberattack this week.
Here’s what we know about the attack – including where it might have come from.
#DeepSeek
Here’s what we know about the attack – including where it might have come from.
#DeepSeek
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NewsTranscript
00:00Chinese AI company DeepSeek has been hit by a cyber attack.
00:04This has forced it to temporarily freeze the registration of new users outside China.
00:09DeepSeek's R1 open-source reasoning model is significantly cheaper than established AI models.
00:15Comparing it to a huge leap forward in the space race,
00:19one leading US venture capitalist called it AI's Sputnik moment,
00:23while Donald Trump said he viewed the lower cost as a positive and an asset.
00:28However, DeepSeek created huge market shockwaves this week,
00:32causing the Nasdaq to drop 3% as investors changed their expectations
00:37around the costs and profits associated with AI.
00:41Meanwhile, Israeli cybersecurity firm Keller says that while R1 bears similarities to ChatGPT,
00:48it is significantly more vulnerable to being hacked.
00:51Chinese cybersecurity firm xLab said DeepSeek has suffered DDoS attacks since early January,
00:58but the numbers and types of hacks have amplified significantly this week.
01:02xLab said the attacks have come from various countries,
01:06including the US, Singapore and the Netherlands.
01:10The US government has not commented on these reports.