DeepSeek’s Viral Rise: How a Chinese AI Startup Became Both a Silicon Valley Threat and the Internet’s Favorite Punchline

DeepSeek’s Viral Rise: How a Chinese AI Startup Became Both a Silicon Valley Threat and the Internet’s Favorite Punchline

When a relatively obscure Chinese artificial intelligence company manages to simultaneously rattle the stock market, challenge the dominance of American tech giants, and spawn an avalanche of internet memes, something extraordinary is happening. DeepSeek, the Hangzhou-based AI lab, has accomplished all three in a matter of weeks — a feat that speaks to both the genuine technical achievement behind its models and the cultural moment in which it a…