What Is DeepSeek And Why Is It Killing Your Retirement Account?

If you ever needed proof that the tech world is basically a reality TV show, this week just delivered it. One minute, Wall Street was sipping its morning coffee, and the next it was lying flat on its back in the back yard as a little-known Chinese AI company blew up everything. What the heck happened, and why? And perhaps more importantly, why did it tank your retirement and investment accounts?

Here are Five Fast Facts on DeepSeek

  1. 👀 Priming The Pump - AI has been the hottest tech market for a couple years now. OpenAI is considered the biggest and best AI engine, performing all that AI software magic. Nvidia is the biggest name in hardware because they make the highly advanced computer chips needed to run all that software magic. Nvidia’s stock has soared in the last couple years, an investor’s bullet train to riches. That one stock alone was almost 7% of the entire S&P 500 index’s value!
  1. 💥 And Just Like That… - Then came DeepSeek, a young Chinese company that was like the kid in the corner of the lunchroom, quietly eating their sandwich while the big kids (Google, Microsoft, OpenAI) ruled the cafeteria. Until last week, when DeepSeek released its first public AI system. It matched or beat OpenAI in early tests, and promptly rocked the AI world.
  1. 🤯 Panic Ensued - DeepSeek is claiming to use only a fraction of the computing power to pull off its feat compared to OpenAI, and using less advanced hardware, too. As icing on the cake, DeepSeek also released their model and results to the public, opening the doorway to other future competitors to get into the race. Investors who had sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into Nvidia scrambled for the nearest paper bag to breathe into as its stock tumbled almost 20% in one day. Many other tech stocks took a dive, too.
  1. 🔍 A Look Under The Covers - Where most AI programs try to do everything at once as fast as possible, DeepSeek uses a different model – it’s more like a project manager and subcontractors who are each experts in their area. When it’s given a task, the PM farms the request out to the correct subcontractor to do the actual work, meaning the core engine takes less time, energy, and computing power – those expensive computer chips – to get the job done. 
  1. 🔭 Now What? - Is DeepSeek the real deal, or a one-hit wonder? When experts have a chance to analyze the claims, will they find that DeepSeek is a new power player in the industry (using far less computing power and resources than previously thought needed) or will its claims be proven nothing more than sensational headlines? Only time will tell, but Wall Street is sure watching very carefully.

🔥Bottom line: DeepSeek just pulled off one of the biggest "Did that just happen?" moments in tech history. Whether they pan out or not, it is clear that the AI race just got a whole lot wilder. Buckle up, because this is going to be more unpredictable than your WiFi connection during a Zoom meeting.

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