Beijing embraces DeepSeek to lead AI adoption as it looks for new growth drivers
DeepSeek's rise came as a timely confidence boost as the Chinese leadership faces a prolonged economic gloom and a brewing trade war with U.S.
DeepSeek's sudden splash in the large language model space has given China a powerful tool to catalyze artificial-intelligence adoption in the country and boost economic growth.
While Goldman Sachs pegs a 20-basis-point to 30-basis-point boost to China's GDP over the long term — by 2030 — it expects the country's economy to start reflecting the positive impact of AI adoption from next year itself as AI-driven automation improves productivity.
"The recent emergence of DeepSeek ... suggests faster AI development and adoption in China than we previously anticipated," economists at the Wall Street bank said.
The enthusiasm around DeepSeek is also being reflected in the sharp rally in China stocks, with the MSCI China index soaring over 21% from its January low, according to LSEG data.
The startup's rise is triggering a reassessment of China's "investability" after an extended period of limited attention, Morgan Stanley said in a note this week.