Insider Brief
- DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng predicts AGI could emerge within two to ten years and emphasizes structured systems like mathematics and coding as essential testing grounds, while also highlighting the need for multimodality and engagement with real-world complexities.
- DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup backed by the $8 billion hedge fund High-Flyer, focuses on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) through foundational research, open-sourcing its models, and leveraging extensive computational resources, including up to 50,000 Hopper GPUs.
- DeepSeek challenges traditional AI business models by avoiding fundraising, maintaining low API pricing, and attracting top talent with its focus on solving AI’s toughest problems and advancing next-generation large language models.
- Image: China Central Television
The arrival of AGI — artificial general intelligence — could arrive within two years, the leader of one of the fastest growing Chinese AI startup.
In an interview with with DeepSeek’s CEO Liang Wenfeng, translated by the team at China Watch, the executive said that AGI offered a range of time frames, but signaled the event would occur within our lifetime — and his company is built to bring AGI sooner, rather than later.
“It could be two, five, or ten years–in any case, it will happen in our lifetimes,” Wenfeng said. “There’s no unified opinion on a roadmap even within our company. That said, we’ve taken real bets on three directions. First is mathematics and code, second multimodality, and third natural language itself.”
DeepSeek is uniquely focused on creating AGI. It is literally written in their mission statement.
China Watch writes : “DeepSeek’s mission statement does not mention safety, competition, or stakes for humanity, but only ‘unraveling the mystery of AGI with curiosity’.”
Wenfeng said AGI development highlights the importance of structured systems like mathematics and coding, which offer clear rules and allow for self-guided learning
“Mathematics and code are natural AGI testing grounds, somewhat like Go,” said Wenfeng. “They’re closed, verifiable systems where high levels of intelligence can be self-taught. Multimodality and engagement with the real human world, on the other hand, might also be a requirement for AGI. We remain open to different possibilities.”
The CEO countered pessimism that AI has hit a wall, which was alleged after OpenAI seemed to delay GPT5. That event triggered doubts that progress is slowing.
Wenfeng said, as reported in China Watch: “We’re relatively optimistic. Our industry as a whole seems to be meeting expectations. OpenAI is not a god (OpenAI不是神), they won’t necessarily always be at the forefront.”
Dare to Do
American innovation is an inspiration for the DeepSeek team, Wenfeng said.
“I believe innovation starts with believing,” said Wenfeng. :Why is Silicon Valley so innovative? Because they dare to do things. When ChatGPT came out, the tech community in China lacked confidence in frontier innovation. From investors to big tech, they all thought that the gap was too big and opted to focus on applications instead. But innovation starts with confidence, which we often see more from young people.”
It’s that daring that helps DeepSeek attract China’s most talented AI researchers despite the company’s low profile and its avoidance of seeking funding.
“Because we’re tackling the hardest problems,” Wenfeng lists as one reason the company attracts skilled workers. “Top talents are most drawn to solving the world’s toughest challenges. In fact, top talents in China are underestimated because there’s so little hardcore innovation happening at the societal level, leaving them unrecognized. We’re addressing the hardest problems, which makes us inherently attractive to them.”
Tech Ban
Another challenge is the west’s ban on technology to China, Wenfeng suggests.
“We do not have financing plans in the short term,” he said. “Money has never been the problem for us; bans on shipments of advanced chips are the problem.”
Wenfeng said that he is focused on the many challenges facing large language models (LLM) and AI, in general.
“My main energy is focused on researching the next generation of large models,” he said. “There are still many unsolved problems.”
He added that the company is focused on the technology of the future, not the past.
“All these business patterns are products of the previous generation and may not hold true in the future,” Wenfeng said. “Using Internet business logic to discuss future AI profit models is like discussing General Electric and Coca-Cola when Pony Ma was starting his business. It’s a pointless exercise.”
DeepSeek backed exclusively by High-Flyer, a Chinese quantitative hedge fund valued at $8 billion. High-Flyer was Wenfeng’s main venture before DeepSeek and considered , a top 4 Chinese quantitative hedge fund recently valued at $8 billion.
As mentioned, unlike many AI startups, DeepSeek has no fundraising plans, focusing instead on foundational technology and committing to open-sourcing all its models. This approach reflects its emphasis on innovation over immediate commercial gains.
The company has also disrupted China’s AI landscape with aggressively low API pricing, igniting price wars in the market. Despite this, DeepSeek remains well-positioned for long-term scalability. Leveraging High-Flyer’s substantial resources, including access to advanced compute clusters, it reportedly operates with a staggering number of GPUs—potentially upwards of 50,000 Hopper GPUs, far exceeding the publicly disclosed 10,000 A100 GPUs, according to China Watch.
This unparalleled access to computational power places DeepSeek in a unique position to lead in AI development while maintaining a commitment to accessibility and transparency, challenging traditional business models in the sector.
In a lot of ways, DeepSeek’s arrival represents the scrappiness of the company’s founder who tells the interviewer: “I grew up in the 1980s in a fifth-tier city in Guangdong. My father was a primary school teacher. In the 1990s, there were many opportunities to make money in Guangdong. At that time, many parents came to my home; basically, they thought studying was useless. But looking back now, they’ve all changed their views. Because making money isn’t easy anymore—even the opportunity to drive a taxi might be gone soon. It’s only taken one generation. In the future, hardcore innovation will become increasingly common. It’s not easy to understand right now, because society as a whole needs to be educated on this point. Once society allows people dedicated to hardcore innovation to achieve fame and fortune, then our collective mindset will adapt. We just need some examples and a process.”
