A few days ago, OpenAI submitted a fifteen-page memorandum to the U.S. government, elevating the competitive threat posed by DeepSeek to a national security concern and attempting to frame it as ideological competition. This submission was OpenAI’s feedback to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) regarding the publicly solicited Artificial Intelligence Action Plan.
I have never denied the importance of intellectual property rights, nor do I overlook the potential national security risks associated with national-level AI competition. However, for younger companies that have not yet established sufficient credibility regarding intellectual property, actively seeking policy protections might inadvertently weaken their innovative spirit and constrain their long-term growth.
Over the past two years, OpenAI and similar companies have consistently promoted the narrative that building leading large-scale AI models requires enormous financial resources and supercomputing power, setting extremely high barriers that ordinary players cannot overcome. Leveraging this narrative and their early-mover advantage, OpenAI has achieved remarkable valuation and continuously attracted significant investment. However, the emergence of DeepSeek (not the first, nor will it be the last) has disrupted this entrenched perception, prompting more countries, enterprises, and individuals to reconsider the feasibility of entering the large-scale AI arena.
The achievements in today’s AI industry, especially in large language models, are the result of collective efforts and the open sharing of numerous researchers and enterprises. As a company benefiting from the open-source community and actively sharing its own research findings and technical details, DeepSeek has given back to the community and contributed to lowering AI training and inference costs. Such open outcomes should benefit the entire society, including existing leading AI companies. However, as I pointed out in Issue 68 of my newsletter: “For major AI companies accustomed to high investments and large-scale resource allocation, it will undoubtedly be challenging to shift their mindset in the short term. Even if DeepSeek’s methods provide some inspiration, without fundamental changes in philosophy, these companies will struggle to achieve sustained and significant progress in reducing training costs.”
Perhaps OpenAI is currently trapped in this mindset transition dilemma. Realizing the difficulty of rapidly improving its cost structure, it has chosen more aggressive competitive methods, seeking external intervention to slow down its competitors. While this strategy might temporarily alleviate pressure from capital markets, it ultimately does not resolve the company’s underlying developmental bottlenecks.
The rise of AI is not only a significant technological shift in human history but also a commercial opportunity filled with challenges. As a promising industry with vast market potential, fierce competition is inevitable as countries and enterprises accelerate strategic positioning. As large-model technologies approach performance ceilings and differences in model capabilities narrow, offering distinctive application scenarios and cost-effective products will be critical factors determining market success. OpenAI may not have adopted an optimal competitive strategy—unless it candidly confronts and effectively addresses its structural issues, its true replacements in the future may not be DeepSeek, as claimed, but rather those domestic competitors currently behind but stronger in terms of cost-efficiency and unique application scenarios.
DeepSeek is just one among many new challengers reshaping the industry landscape, serving as evidence of the increasing feasibility for more participants to enter this “high-barrier” industry. Soon, we will likely witness similar DeepSeek-style breakthroughs emerging globally.
Since its inception, ChatGPT has attracted me through its inherent strengths and outstanding performance. I sincerely hope it continues to retain its users through continuous innovation and excellence, rather than relying on external measures like policy protections.
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