During discussions with investors, executives from major technology companies expressed their views on DeepSeek in various ways. While some praised artificial intelligence models, others did not seem concerned or avoided elaborating on the topic. Most agree that DeepSeek’s affordable models will eventually reduce the costs of artificial intelligence but appear determined to invest significantly in AI infrastructure by 2025. The timing of when these investments will pay off remains uncertain. Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella spoke favorably about DeepSeek during a meeting on January 29, while CEO Mark Zuckerberg kept his distance.

The innovations of DeepSeek have caused such a shake-up in the U.S. technology sector that the darling of AI, Nvidia (NVDA), lost $600 billion in market value in a single day — the largest daily loss in stock market history. Investors fear that U.S. giants may reduce spending on AI hardware. According to the Wall Street Journal, some U.S. congressmen are now launching initiatives to ban the DeepSeek app on government devices. Discussions with investors revealed the differing opinions of top tech company executives on DeepSeek. While some praised AI models, others avoided discussing the topic in detail. However, most acknowledge that DeepSeek’s affordable models will lower AI costs over time but still seem committed to making massive investments in AI infrastructure by 2025. The executives of leading technology companies shared their thoughts on the matter:

Google (GOOG) CEO Sundar Pichai, when asked about the impact of DeepSeek’s low-cost model on Google, stated the following: ● Pichai acknowledged that the DeepSeek team had “done a great job.” ● He noted that Google’s own Gemini Flash models were more efficient. ● Pichai highlighted the superior efficiency of Google’s 2.0 Flash models compared to DeepSeek’s V3 and R1 versions, pointing out Google’s strength in end-to-end optimization. ● He expressed his belief that with the reduction in AI usage costs, more usage scenarios and opportunities would arise.

Amazon (February 6) Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy stated that he did not agree with the idea that AI expenses would decrease with DeepSeek’s new models: ● He stated that the assumption that “when the cost of technology components decreases, technology expenses also decrease” has never been historically validated. ● He referred to aggressive cloud investments in the early 2000s, noting that despite cost reductions, expenses increased instead of decreasing. Indeed, executives of Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft announced that they plan to spend a total of $325 billion in 2025 on AI models, a 46% increase from the previous year. Among them, Amazon will make the most significant expenditures.

Advanced Micro Devices (February 4) AMD (AMD) CEO Lisa Su said she believed that new AI initiatives like DeepSeek would not decrease investments: ● She cited the example of the $500 billion “Stargate” AI infrastructure project supported by SoftBank (SFTBY), Oracle (ORCL), and OpenAI. ● By emphasizing the enormous computational power required for such projects, Su argued that AI demand would increase and provide significant opportunities for AMD across all business sectors.

Qualcomm (February 5) Qualcomm (QCOM) CEO Cristiano Amon was the most excited about DeepSeek’s new models and highlighted that these developments could accelerate the use of AI on phones and PCs:

Microsoft (January 29) Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella spoke favorably about DeepSeek at a meeting on January 29. ● He mentioned that Microsoft had added the latest AI model from DeepSeek to developer platforms like Azure AI Foundry and GitHub. ● He explained that this model passed through stages such as “automatic attack simulation, content security integration, and security scanning,” and would soon be operable on Microsoft’s AI-powered PCs. ● Nadella noted the significant innovations by DeepSeek and stated that the field of AI is entering a “commoditization” phase. ● He added, “For a company like ours that provides cloud infrastructure on a large scale and a PC platform, this news is positive.” Meta (January 29) Meta’s (META) strength in the advertising sector positions it as the “company most likely to benefit from productive AI.” Shares of Meta rose by around 2% on the day of the unveiling of DeepSeek’s R1 model. ● CEO Mark Zuckerberg remained lukewarm to the general excitement surrounding DeepSeek. ● When asked if the cheaper AI models would impact Meta’s capital expenses, he said, “It’s too early to say how this will reflect on our infrastructure and capital expenses.” ● Zuckerberg emphasized that DeepSeek competes with Meta because Meta is also trying to turn its open-source Llama models into a global standard. ● He added, “In terms of America’s competitiveness, it is crucial that a global open-source standard is American-made.” Apple (January 30) Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, when asked about his general perspective on DeepSeek, responded: ● “Any innovation that increases efficiency is a good thing for us.” ● He said that Apple adopts a “very careful and planned spending approach.” ● On the day the new R1 model of DeepSeek was introduced, Apple’s shares rose by over 3%.

Google (February 4) Google (GOOG) CEO Sundar Pichai, when asked about the impact of DeepSeek’s low-cost model on Google, stated the following: ● Pichai acknowledged that the DeepSeek team had “done a great job.” ● He noted that Google’s own Gemini Flash models were more efficient. ● Pichai highlighted the superior efficiency of Google’s 2.0 Flash models compared to DeepSeek’s V3 and R1 versions, pointing out Google’s strength in end-to-end optimization. ● He expressed his belief that with the reduction in AI usage costs, more usage scenarios and opportunities would arise. Amazon (February 6) Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy stated that he did not agree with the idea that AI expenses would decrease with DeepSeek’s new models: ● He stated that the assumption that “when the cost of technology components decreases, technology expenses also decrease” has never been historically validated. ● He referred to aggressive cloud investments in the early 2000s, noting that despite cost reductions, expenses increased instead of decreasing. Indeed, executives of Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft announced that they plan to spend a total of $325 billion in 2025 on AI models, a 46% increase from the previous year. Among them, Amazon will make the most significant expenditures.

Advanced Micro Devices (February 4) AMD (AMD) CEO Lisa Su said she believed that new AI initiatives like DeepSeek would not decrease investments: ● She cited the example of the $500 billion “Stargate” AI infrastructure project supported by SoftBank (SFTBY), Oracle (ORCL), and OpenAI. ● By emphasizing the enormous computational power required for such projects, Su argued that AI demand would increase and provide significant opportunities for AMD across all business sectors.

Qualcomm (February 5) Qualcomm (QCOM) CEO Cristiano Amon was the most excited about DeepSeek’s new models and highlighted that these developments could accelerate the use of AI on phones and PCs:

Arm (February 5) Arm (ARM) CEO Rene Haas, as a U.K.-based chip designer, claimed that his company would benefit from the cost reduction of AI in consumer devices, taking a jab at Nvidia: ● “[No matter how great] Grace Blackwell [Nvidia] is, it is not possible to install it in a mobile phone, headset, or even a car. But Arm architecture can be used in all these devices,” he said.