DeepSeek overtakes ChatGPT in downloads on Apple App Store

Deepseek

DeepSeek, the Chinese AI platform, has overtaken OpenAI’s ChatGPT on Apple’s App Store download rankings in the US in just a week after its official announcement, according to a report by The Spectator Index. This milestone shows stiff competition against established players like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft.

Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas also posted on social media platform X, congratulating DeepSeek. He also said that he is looking forward to using DeepSeek models

Congrats to @deepseek_ai for getting to #1 on the App Store. For a while, it wasn't clear who would beat ChatGPT for the first time. The best we could manage was #8, a year ago. Look forward to using all their models for search, assistant, and agents this year. pic.twitter.com/WpVR3TFA0t Aravind Srinivas (@AravSrinivas) January 27, 2025

What is DeepSeek?
DeepSeek R1, developed by the Hangzhou-based startup DeepSeek, is an advanced large language model designed to enhance reasoning and analytical capabilities. The model employs a hybrid architecture with reinforcement learning and chain-of-thought reasoning. Two versions are available: DeepSeek-R1 and DeepSeek-R1-Zero, with the latter offering unsupervised fine-tuning for superior reasoning abilities.

Why DeepSeek is getting popular
DeepSeek’s rise in popularity can be attributed to its competitive pricing and impressive performance. Unlike OpenAI’s o1, which charges $15 per million input tokens, DeepSeek R1 costs just $0.55 per million input tokens. Additionally, the model has reportedly demonstrated superior performance in coding tasks, achieving a 97% success rate, and outperforming OpenAI’s o1 in certain benchmarks.

Social media platforms are abuzz with comparisons between DeepSeek R1 and other AI models. Users have praised its seamless performance on smartphones and its ability to handle complex tasks like mathematical computations. Notably, DeepSeek has also released compact versions of its R1 model, making it accessible for use on laptops and other devices.

How to access DeepSeek
Users can explore DeepSeek R1 through its chat interface at chat.deepseek.com. Developers can integrate the model into applications via the DeepSeek Developer Portal, using API keys for seamless integration.