DeepSeek has become an online sensation after toppling ChatGPT as the most popular AI assistant on Apple’s App Store.
China’s new DeepSeek AI app has taken social media by storm, becoming one of the most popular meme characters on X since its launch last week. Images featuring the AI assistant have gone viral, prompted by discussions of the app’s breakthrough success and its impact on the global tech industry.
The startup’s swift rise has already sent shockwaves through tech stocks amid a growing realization that the cost-effective app could undermine US dominance in the AI sector. DeepSeek has claimed that it created its latest AI model for a fraction of the cost of similar products by rival US firms.
As a result, the Nasdaq Composite index on Monday fell 3.1%, the S&P 500 dropped by 1.5%, and Nvidia, a major US chipmaker, was dethroned as the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.
Developed by a Hangzhou-based startup, the latest DeepSeek product was released on January 20 and stripped OpenAI’s ChatGPT of its title as the most popular program on Apple’s App Store within days. The app’s popularity soared so quickly that it resulted in DeepSeek going offline and banning new registries several times in the past week.
Web users have been quick to comment on and illustrate the app’s meteoric rise in memes. Some users mocked ChatGPT for losing its crown to the newcomer.
😂 #DEEPSEEK pic.twitter.com/vTGpNwNQej
— Evan Kirstel #B2B #TechFluencer (@EvanKirstel) January 27, 2025
Others portrayed DeepSeek as yet another stage in the US-China artificial intelligence rivalry.
الذكاء الاصطناعي الصيني #DeepSeek
يغير معادلة الذكاء العالمي و يقضي على #ChatGPT الامريكي•أطلقت شركة #ديب_سيك الصينية تطبيق ذكاء اصطناعي ينافس تطبيقات أمريكية رائدة مثل “تشات جي بي تي”، بتكلفة منخفضة تهدد هيمنة الشركات الأمريكية.#DeepSeekR1 #deepseekai pic.twitter.com/VcrU2qFBEc
— سفــيـرة أنصــار اللّـه 𓂆 𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡 (@ansarallah_1111) January 28, 2025
Some mocked Europe for missing out on all the AI hype.
AI race, summarized pic.twitter.com/indJZaViix
— vittorio (@IterIntellectus) January 23, 2025
Still more users made fun of the market reaction to the app’s swift success.
Crypto traders be like after #DeepSeek pic.twitter.com/QEq9DYj4Yh
— Crypto Charmer 🫀 (@CryptoCharmer) January 28, 2025
Some users – who have apparently already played around with the new assistant – noted some of its deficiencies.
When you ask anything controversial related to China…#DeepSeek : pic.twitter.com/pCcs7b1KE7
— UmdarTamker (@UmdarTamker) January 28, 2025
And others simply shared their emotions.
#MemeAlert #DeepSeek pic.twitter.com/hqo8RBBejU
— Evan Kirstel #B2B #TechFluencer (@EvanKirstel) January 28, 2025
Online discussions also touched on the DeepSeek’s strengths in comparison with competitors and the far-reaching implications of the new AI technology. Overall, most posts pitched DeepSeek’s launch as a good thing, capable of spurring the development of AI – which many said is still somewhat handicapped despite numerous breakthroughs.
