While DeepSeek threatens AI giants, Apple may even profit

Big tech companies were shocked by the arrival of a new Chinese player, and Apple could even be the one to profit from it.

DeepSeek, a startup that unveiled the R1 model to the public on January 20, is seen by many as a major threat to the current biggest players in artificial intelligence, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI.

The market was most frightened by the fact that Chinese AI models are said to be as effective as American ones, but are much cheaper. The main reason for the low price is the use of less powerful chips.

What this means for Google, OpenAI and the like is quite clear, namely their business model is based on charging a subscription fee for the use of premium or the most advanced AI models. How exactly the market reacted can be deduced from two pieces of data: shares of the Dutch chip manufacturer ASML fell by 7%, while the most resounding drop was experienced by Nvidia, whose shares fell by more than 17% on Monday.

On the other hand, Apple is in a relatively good position, as its shares rose in value following the DeepSeek announcement, which is not the case for Alphabet and Microsoft, whose shares fell during the same period.Apple would profit if the cost of training AI models fell", he says Gene Munster, partner at Deepwater Asset Management.

One reason Apple could benefit from lowering the cost of training AI models is because Apple is thinking about how to integrate AI into its products. Their goal, at least for now, is not to build the most powerful model, he told Business Insider. William Kerwin, an analyst at Morningstar. He added that Apple could integrate large language models and improve Apple Intelligence at a lower cost than the competition. This would ultimately mean lower prices for consumers.

"If DeepSeek proves that powerful AI capabilities can be achieved at a fraction of the price most AI companies pay today, Apple could accelerate its AI integration plan without unnecessary additional investment.", I think Jacob Bourne, an analyst at BI's sister company Emarketer.

Apple has been criticized for its slow pace of AI development. It unveiled Apple Intelligence last year, months after its biggest competitors unveiled their models and years behind OpenAI.

The CEOs of tech giants Alphabet's Sundar Pichai and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg believe that investing heavily in AI is worth the risk - Facebook is reportedly investing $60 billion in AI infrastructure this year alone. Apple appears to be investing less in AI, although they have not disclosed specific figures for its AI investments.