AI Mavericks: Disrupting Tech with Bold Vision

In January this year, the rise of a Chinese AI startup called DeepSeek shocked the world. Just 2 years and 2 months after OpenAI (backed by Microsoft) launched ChatGPT (11/2022), the AI wave has swept across the globe, with NVIDIA's success being the clearest proof. Before this, people always believed that AI was a game for big companies with huge resources, leading to the view that "AI is a money battle." This belief became even stronger as America and its powerful Big Tech companies dominated the AI field. President Donald Trump even announced a $500 billion AI project called "Stargate."

The successful model of Big Tech companies in Silicon Valley usually follows this pattern: they raise money from venture capital funds, build products, expand business globally, generate huge profits, and reinvest to build strong "economic moats." They also use stock reward programs (like RSUs) to attract and keep talented people. This helps employees stay motivated and work with high responsibility. Many employees at NVIDIA and Tesla have become millionaires, and some even billionaires, thanks to their companies' skyrocketing stock prices in recent years. This creates the "Silicon Valley dream" that attracts talented people from around the world. The combination of innovative technology, smart business strategies, and employee-friendly policies has made Silicon Valley the world's leading tech hub, showing how American companies have traditionally led the way in technological advancement.

This model was thought to be unique to America, as other economic powers like Europe, China, and Japan couldn't compete with their talent retention policies. However, DeepSeek's founder Liang Wenfeng challenged the idea that "Big Tech is all-powerful." In an interview with ChinaTalk, he stated that "investment doesn't directly equal innovation."  DeepSeek's R1 reasoning model, launched early this year, costs 30 times less than ChatGPT while delivering similar results. The global AI industry is experiencing rapid changes. Many businesses that were previously worried about AI implementation costs are now rushing to use DeepSeek's model, threatening the position of American Big Tech companies, including ChatGPT. The massive investments made by Big Tech in AI might become "pointless." 

DeepSeek's breakthrough lies in their decision to make all their products open-source. Their goal isn't immediate profit but building an AI ecosystem centered around DeepSeek, which contrasts with the secretive approach of ChatGPT and Google's Gemini regarding their core algorithms. This is seen as a direct challenge to American Big Tech's dominance.

Liang Wenfeng's journey (born in 1985) shows a different path from the usual American Big Tech route. After getting his Master's degree in Electronic Engineering and Information Technology from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, he started Highflyer in 2015, a fund that uses AI for quantitative trading. Despite China's struggling stock market after 2018, Highflyer doubled its profits and became one of China's top four hedge funds, managing about $80 billion in assets. Even though his personal income reached hundreds of millions of dollars yearly, Liang Wenfeng wanted to do more than just make money.

In 2023, he started DeepSeek with a goal that went "beyond financial value." The company hired around 180 young employees who were either fresh graduates or had just 1-2 years of work experience (not from Big Tech companies or overseas graduates). Liang Wenfeng aims to create an Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) that works better and costs less than OpenAI's solutions. He explains, "Our hiring focus is always on passion and curiosity. We prefer people who are eager to research rather than those just looking to make money." 

He also believes in developing local talent to create something "truly innovative" and different, avoiding the typical thinking patterns of those who worked at American Big Tech companies.

This approach shows how DeepSeek is taking a unique path in the AI industry, focusing on fresh perspectives and local talent rather than following the established Big Tech model.

All DeepSeek employees have free access to GPU resources without any restrictions, allowing them to focus solely on their AGI goals. The company's operational costs are fully supported by Highflyer.

While DeepSeek's success isn't guaranteed yet, their "David versus Goliath" approach offers valuable lessons: daring to think and act differently, thinking outside the box, focusing on building strong foundations, and ensuring stable resources for research and innovation.

In South Korea, there have been similar attempts, notably by Tmax Group's Chairman Park Dae-yeon, who invested 1.1 trillion won over 15 years to develop a "super application." However, this project didn't succeed, forcing Tmax to sell its key subsidiaries and lay off many employees. This case shows how challenging it can be to compete with bigger companies, even with significant investment and determination. 

The story of Tmax serves as both a warning and a learning opportunity for companies like DeepSeek, highlighting the importance of sustainable growth and strategic planning in the competitive tech industry.

Both Tmax and DeepSeek share the goal of competing with US Big Tech companies, but their approaches differ significantly. While Tmax relies on external funding, DeepSeek maintains financial independence. Liang Wenfeng once asked, "Which VC would invest in us?", highlighting how investment funds often hesitate to back uncertain projects. Additionally, Tmax's large size (1,200 employees) contrasts sharply with DeepSeek's smaller team (180 employees). In their effort to compete with Big Tech, Tmax seems to have unintentionally become another "big corporation," similar to how major Korean tech companies like Naver, Kakao, Samsung, and SK Telecom haven't made real breakthroughs in AI.

An AI expert called Tmax's failure "the collapse of a romantic dream in Korean technology." He remembers, "Tmax used to be a dream workplace for many talented students, especially those looking to fulfill their alternative military service."  According to international media, Liang Wenfeng's colleagues call him an "eccentric." Interestingly, it's this "eccentric" who has shaken up the AI world. Perhaps what we really need are these "eccentric" individuals and an environment that gives them the freedom to create and make things happen.  

This raises an important question: Could the key to innovation lie in embracing unconventional thinkers and providing them with the space to turn their unique ideas into reality?

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Source: vnreview.vn /  04-Feb-2025 / https://vnreview.vn/threads/bai-hoc-tu-cau-chuyen-deepseek-gay-chan-dong-toan-cau-lam-sao-1-start-up-vo-danh-lai-thoi-bay-2-000-ty-usd-von-hoa-thi-truong-chung-khoan-my.53691/