OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has recognized the growing competition posed by Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek, whose chatbot has matched ChatGPT’s performance in certain areas. However, he downplayed DeepSeek’s research contributions as a major challenge to OpenAI.
“They did some nice work,” Altman said in an interview on The Times Tech Podcast, released on February 11. He pointed to DeepSeek’s use of chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting as a feature that resonated with users but emphasized that it did not constitute a breakthrough from a research perspective.
DeepSeek’s meteoric rise has had an immediate impact on the AI sector, notably causing a dip in US tech stocks when it entered the spotlight. Unlike OpenAI, which has invested billions in AI development, DeepSeek’s models were reportedly built at a fraction of that cost. This efficiency has sparked discussions about whether industry leaders like OpenAI could face serious competition from lower-cost alternatives.
While Altman admitted the timing of DeepSeek’s emergence caught him off guard, he insisted OpenAI was prepared for growing competition.
“We knew that at some point, we would get more serious competitors and models that were very capable,” he said. “But you don’t know when you wake up any given morning that that’s going to be the morning.”
Altman’s comments came as global leaders, tech executives, and researchers convened in Paris for the AI Action Summit, an event hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. The summit aimed to establish common ground on AI governance, safety, and ethics.
Addressing concerns about AI development in different geopolitical contexts, Altman noted that regional variations were inevitable.
“You can imagine a sort of hierarchy of what AI has to do globally, […] what AI has to do with this country, this country, and then individual users,” he said.
He also raised the question of whether AI would trend toward more authoritarian control or a democratic, user-empowering model, stating that he preferred the latter.
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While DeepSeek’s presence in AI is growing, its role in global AI governance remains uncertain. Media reports suggested DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng was invited to the summit for his technical achievements. However, sources close to the company told iFeng Technology (Phoenix New Media) that neither Liang nor any DeepSeek representatives attended.
Their absence has left questions about DeepSeek’s stance on international AI governance and whether it intends to participate in shaping industry regulations.
Neither OpenAI nor DeepSeek has commented further on the prospect of direct competition between the two firms.