DeepSeek challenged America’s dominant position in AI last week when news got out that a Chinese startup could match the best ChatGPT model by using software instead of the high-end hardware unavailable to AI firms in China.
DeepSeek might have used ChatGPT content to train early versions of DeepSeek AI, but this doesn’t change the novel approach that allowed it to do more with less, and to offer a potentially cheaper high-end AI to users.
The market may have crashed last Monday, but that’s a temporary reaction. Hardware will still very much count in the brewing US-China AI war, and everyone will pay even more attention to software optimization ideas.
I said last week that DeepSeek tech might benefit Apple directly, one of the few companies that wasn’t affected by the crash. I speculated that Apple might use some of DeepSeek’s ideas to optimize its own AI models to improve Apple Intelligence on the iPhone in iOS 19 and future updates.
I didn’t mean Apple should incorporate DeepSeek inside the iPhone, like ChatGPT and other chatbot offerings. I wouldn’t even want that. I have plenty of reasons to stay away from DeepSeek, as it is packaged for the Western world right now.
However, DeepSeek integration in iOS could be exactly what Apple needs in China, a key iPhone market where the handset isn’t selling as well as before.
The current version of Apple Intelligence isn’t spectacular, especially when you compare it to what ChatGPT can do or all the Gemini features Google brought to Pixel and other Android phones. Apple Intelligence is a work in progress, which is more likely to annoy users in the first year(s).
That is if Apple Intelligence is available to you. As I explained time and again since WWDC 2024, I’m not going to get Apple Intelligence anytime soon. My best hope is to start testing Apple Intelligence once iOS 18.4 is released this spring. That’s when Apple might bring its AI to the European Union.
The EU isn’t the only market where Apple Intelligence isn’t available. Chinese users also lack Apple Intelligence support. Apple has to partner with a different AI provider in this market to have Apple Intelligence run on iPhones. It would need to replace ChatGPT with something local.
Baidu’s AI was one of the names mentioned several months ago, but DeepSeek could be a better option for Apple. The company could ink a partnership with the startup to have the DeepSeek chatbot work in Apple Intelligence just like ChatGPT does. Serious privacy guardrails would be in place to protect users, but Chinese customers would still be exposed to a local AI option. ChatGPT and other AI models from the US are not available in China.
Such speculation makes sense, considering DeepSeek’s popularity and performance. Apple used ChatGPT for Apple Intelligence because it was the best available AI chatbot. It could claim the same for China. But is it more than speculation?
A leaker known for accurate claims in the past posted a screenshot on X of a Chinese Weibo user’s mysterious post. The latter suggested that Apple might look at DeepSeek for Apple Intelligence integration in iOS 19.
It wouldn’t be just for the Chinese market, as Apple could use it in the US and European markets after fixing certain safety and security issues.
It’s unclear whether the Weibo user is speculating or has inside knowledge. But using DeepSeek for the Chinese version of Apple Intelligence makes sense to me. I wouldn’t necessarily see Apple bring DeepSeek to international markets, but Apple did say it’ll add other chatbots to Apple Intelligence after ChatGPT.
