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AI has dominated headlines since ChatGPT’s arrival, but this week, the emergence of an upstart rival sparked a media frenzy of its own, commanding global attention. The phenomenal rise of DeepSeek—the virtually unknown Chinese entity whose newly launched model disrupted the entire AI industry with its pennies-on-the-dollar open-source version that seems to match the quality and performance of more established multi-million dollar models—has regenerated the world’s excitement and recaptured media’s focus. In addition to the sheer spectacle, the DeepSeek launch also led to catastrophic stock market declines for OpenAI, as well as component manufacturer Nvidia, and also vaulted over ChatGPT to become the Apple Store’s most downloaded free app.

This phenomenon sparked the interest of our media analysis team, which immediately embarked on comprehensive research to uncover the impact of the news event and the resulting media coverage—with about 70,000 media mentions worldwide in the early part of the week, nearly 20,000 of those in the U.S. alone, and more than 63,000 of those mentions in a single day (Jan. 26). 

DeepSeek’s Media Domination in Focus

The nearly perpendicular line that occurs at the moment of DeepSeek’s virality, as shown in the graph below, embodies every PR practitioner’s dream—a media response so profound that it eclipses all other coverage, even during one of the news cycle’s busiest weeks, that of a presidential inauguration and resulting policy news. Overall, much of the DeepSeek coverage had a largely positive tone, although there was no shortage of angles eliciting concern, particularly regarding the upending impact on the AI industry, as well as possible but undetermined threats to national security.

DeepSeek’s Coverage Over Time (Jan 21 – 27, 2025)

Sd Volume Trend 2

Key Themes in DeepSeek’s Media Coverage

DeepSeek’s rapid emergence ignited widespread media attention, with coverage centering around five major themes that define its impact on the AI industry, financial markets, and technology landscape.

1. AI Disruption and Competitive Shake-Up

DeepSeek’s rise was widely framed as a major industry disruptor, challenging AI leaders like OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Anthropic. Many reports described its rapid ascent as a pivotal moment in AI, sparking speculation about whether it could reshape the competitive hierarchy.

2. Technical Innovation and Cost Efficiency

A dominant theme in coverage was DeepSeek’s ability to deliver high-performance AI models at a fraction of the cost of its competitors. Reports highlighted its efficiency in model training, resource utilization, and infrastructure, often contrasting it with the expensive, compute-heavy approaches of established AI companies.

3. Market and Financial Impact

DeepSeek’s launch sent ripples through global markets, with investors reacting to its potential to reshape AI economics. Coverage frequently emphasized stock market fluctuations, particularly declines in Nvidia’s valuation and concerns about the long-term profitability of companies that depend on high-end AI hardware.

4. Open-Source Accessibility and Innovation

DeepSeek’s commitment to open-source AI was widely discussed as a potential game-changer for the industry. Some coverage focused on how this approach could accelerate AI development worldwide, while others raised questions about the long-term sustainability of open-source models and the potential risks of widespread adoption.

5. Challenges and Risks

Despite the excitement, media narratives also addressed DeepSeek’s vulnerabilities. Reports highlighted early service outages due to overwhelming demand, security concerns related to open-source accessibility, and questions about long-term viability in an increasingly competitive AI landscape.

These five themes define the conversation surrounding DeepSeek’s emergence, positioning it as both a breakthrough moment in AI and a catalyst for broader industry shifts.

Trending Terms Appearing In Articles Covering DeepSeek

Here are some of the top trending terms from the media coverage of DeepSeek over the past week.

top trending terms from the media coverage of DeepSeek

Competitor/Peer Presence in DeepSeek Coverage

The research also examined how often competitors or peer organizations are showing up in media articles mentioning DeepSeek. OpenAI has the highest percentage of mentions, followed by Nvidia. 

  • OpenAI / ChatGPT:  35% of DeepSeek stories also mention OpenAI 
  • Nvidia: 25% 
  • Meta / Llama: 19% 
  • Google / Gemini: 11% 
  • Anthropic / Claude:  5% 
Insights related to OpenAI / ChatGPT mentions:

Common among this coverage is the DeepSeek R1 model’s comparison to OpenAI’s o1 model, with some sources stating that DeepSeek’s model has achieved comparable or superior performance in various benchmarks.

Some sources note that DeepSeek’s R1 model, like OpenAI’s o1, uses a “chain of thought” or reasoning approach, but DeepSeek’s model does this with less data.

There is also some discussion about whether DeepSeek has actually surpassed OpenAI, with some sources saying that OpenAI is likely still technically ahead with the o3 model, but it is not yet generally available. 

In addition, there is speculation about whether DeepSeek’s innovations are unique or if they are based on a distillation of OpenAI’s models. 

DeepSeek’s AI assistant surpassed ChatGPT to become the most downloaded free app on Apple’s App Store in the U.S. and China — IT Home

Insights related to Nvidia mentions:

Much of this coverage focused on Nvidia’s stock, which experienced significant drops following the emergence of DeepSeek, with investors concerned that DeepSeek’s low-cost model could reduce the demand for Nvidia’s expensive chips.

There were also mentions of Nvidia acknowledging DeepSeek’s advancements, calling it “an excellent AI advancement” and a “perfect example of Test Time Scaling,” with Nvidia also stating that DeepSeek’s success demonstrates the continued demand for its GPUs, particularly for AI reasoning tasks. — India Times

Some sources found DeepSeek revealing that it used Nvidia H800 chips for training, but in smaller numbers than those used by U.S. AI companies.

Insights related to Meta / Llama mentions:

Meta is reportedly studying DeepSeek’s model, with some reports indicating that Meta has formed research teams to understand DeepSeek’s technology and potentially improve their own Llama model.

DeepSeek’s model is compared to Meta’s Llama 3.1 in some reports, and there is some concern at Meta that its Llama models could fall behind DeepSeek’s.

Meta’s chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, suggests that DeepSeek’s rise demonstrates that “open-source models are surpassing proprietary ones,” implying that Meta’s open-source approach may be a reason for DeepSeek’s success. – NBC News via AOL News

Sd Competitor Peer Presence

How Chinese and American Coverage of DeepSeek Differs

The lion’s share of coverage occurred in the U.S. (26.9%) and China (14.7%), with Germany a distant third (4%). The research revealed notable differences in the tone and themes of coverage between Chinese and U.S. sources, reflecting different perspectives and national interests. 

National Pride vs. Competition Concerns

Chinese sources tend to highlight DeepSeek’s success as a victory for Chinese innovation and technological prowess, emphasizing how it is challenging U.S. dominance in AI—reflecting a sense of national pride in DeepSeek’s ability to compete with and even outperform American tech companies. In contrast, U.S. media often expresses concern and alarm about DeepSeek’s rapid advancement, viewing it as a threat to U.S. technological leadership and dominance in the AI sector—reflecting a sense of urgency to respond to the challenge, in some cases referring to the episode as a “wake-up call.”

Several American sources use the term “Sputnik moment” to describe the impact of DeepSeek, highlighting the sense of alarm and competition in the U.S. 

“The creativity of Chinese AI companies is astonishing”: This quote from a Sohu.com article illustrates the positive and admiring tone taken by some Chinese outlets. 

“DeepSeek is a wake up call for America”: This quote from Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI, which appears in several sources, typifies the tone of concern in the U.S. 

Cost Efficiency vs. Disruption

Chinese media emphasizes DeepSeek’s ability to achieve impressive results with significantly lower costs and less powerful hardware, showcasing the ingenuity and resourcefulness of Chinese developers—a challenge to the perceived extravagance of U.S. AI development efforts. Meanwhile, U.S. coverage frequently highlights the negative impact of DeepSeek’s emergence on stock markets and the financial implications for U.S. tech companies. The plunge in the stock values of companies like Nvidia is often a point of emphasis. 

Some U.S. sources question the claims of cost efficiency and suggest that DeepSeek may have benefitted from accessing restricted technology. or that the reporting of low costs of training was not fully accurate. In addition, some U.S. sources are emphasizing the potential national security implications of DeepSeek’s technological advancement, framing it as a risk to U.S. interests due to the complex relationship between the U.S. and China. There is also a discussion of the open-source nature of the DeepSeek model, and the potential risks if other countries or companies begin to adopt the technology, or if the license becomes more restrictive in the future. 

Open-Source Model

Chinese coverage tends to focus on the open-source nature of the DeepSeek model and the way that this approach may accelerate innovation in China and around the world. Some Chinese outlets offer a more balanced perspective, acknowledging both DeepSeek’s achievements and the challenges it faces, while also suggesting that it is not necessarily a sign of China definitively surpassing the U.S. in AI.

Censorship

Some Chinese language sources note that DeepSeek may be subject to Chinese government censorship, while other sources note that it does not answer questions about politically sensitive topics. American sources also emphasize the way that the AI can be shaped by Chinese political priorities, and highlight instances where it avoids answering politically sensitive questions. 

Overall

Chinese coverage tends to portray DeepSeek as a symbol of national innovation and a challenge to Western dominance, while U.S. coverage is often characterized by concern, market anxiety, and national security implications. These differences highlight the geopolitical tensions and competition surrounding AI development. While both sides acknowledge DeepSeek’s technological advancements, they interpret its significance and implications differently. 

media coverage of DeepSeek by country

Concerns Among Communicators

Within the PR community, the reaction took a tone of reluctance. As a group particularly sensitive to the potential repercussions of fast-developing news events, particularly in the still-young and unprecedented arena of AI, the fear of a rush to action that is basically unvetted tends to raise red flags—such activity has “crisis” written all over it.

“The recent DeepSeek announcement immediately caught our attention and underscores the necessity for all companies to have a robust Responsible Use framework and process in place so that they can immediately evaluate, test and measure the impact of groundbreaking foundational models on their business, innovation and customer experiences,” Tessa Burg, CTO at digital marketing agency Mod Op, told Bulldog Reporter.

“Responsible use starts with security, ethics, and environmental considerations, but should also include tools and processes that allow your engineering teams to quickly measure quality, value to the business and the ROI on integrating into the stack,” she added. “If technology teams are not doing so already, this is a wake-up call that model-agnostic development and innovation is a must. DeepSeek’s efficiency claims are staggering—but if you’re already built against a single model, then your speed to market and greater efficiency will be longer off than your competitors.”

This research was conducted by Agility PR Solutions’ team of media analysis experts.

 

Agility’s DeepSeek Deep Dive: More Media Analysis Insights

Additional posts from our media analysis team uncover the news event’s impact on the AI industry at large, the wild market fluctuations, the “AI chip debate” and legal concerns, and comparisons of DeepSeek’s media surge to other brands’ viral moments. Take a look at these deep-dive reports:

Media Analysis: Rise of DeepSeek ‘ban’ chatter across social media

AI isn’t just advancing—it’s becoming a geopolitical flashpoint. In just a week, speculation about a DeepSeek ‘ban’ exploded on X.com, shaping perceptions before any official action was taken. But how did this narrative take hold so quickly, and what does it reveal about the power of social media in driving public perception?

Media Analysis: DeepSeek coverage stirs up controversy for chip maker NVIDIA

NVIDIA has long been at the forefront of AI, pushing the boundaries of GPU capabilities and AI-driven computing. But events surrounding the recent emergence of DeepSeek has put the company under an intense spotlight. Our media analysis team breaks it down here.

Media Analysis: Did DeepSeek stay within legal boundaries?

DeepSeek has ignited intense speculation over the chips used to train its models. This debate is about more than just hardware; it has geopolitical implications and raises questions about the effectiveness of U.S. export controls. Here’s what our media analysis reveals.

Media Analysis: Dissecting the details of DeepSeek’s viral moment

In one viral moment, DeepSeek, the once little-known Chinese tech lab, disrupted the entire AI industry, sending ripples through Silicon Valley and around the world. How does this event compare to other brands’ viral episodes? And how can you be prepared if it happens to you?

Media Analysis: How DeepSeek’s coverage compares to AI leader OpenAI’s

DeepSeek’s viral emergence was the first real challenge to OpenAI’s dominance in the AI industry, and in media coverage. Here our media analysis team breaks down how OpenAI played this moment strategically and what it tells us about handling viral competitors.

 

Jeremy Parkin

Jeremy Parkin

Jeremy has been operating at the intersection of communications, marketing, and analytics for more than 10 years. Currently leading the media insights group at Agility PR Solutions where he supervises a global team including team leads and a dozen analysts, working with clients in 23 different industries to help them develop media intelligence programs that match up to their specific objectives and realities.