DeepSeek, DeepSeek, DeepSeek. We couldn’t escape the headlines around the Chinese AI lab this week. The startup lit a fire under Silicon Valley after releasing its R1 “reasoning” model and displacing ChatGPT as the App Store’s top app. While DeepSeek claims to have built its models more efficiently and at a fraction of the cost of competitors, some are skeptical.

Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Margaux MacColl, and Max Zeff are digging into the latest news, including the reactions from both tech giants and the U.S. government, which is increasingly concerned that China is pulling ahead in the AI arms race.

Listen to the full episode to also hear about:

Equity has a special DeepSeek deep dive on the way for those who want more, so stay tuned!

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here.