🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

DeepSeek V4 open weights, Huawei support, lower pricing

• DeepSeek V4, the base model behind HKGAI-V3, uses open weights. Labs such as HKGAI can download it and tailor it for local needs, including Cantonese language support 1.
• The model runs on Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) as well as Huawei Ascend AI accelerators. That fits HKGAI’s plan to use Chinese hardware instead of depending only on Nvidia chips that face export restrictions 1.
• Cost also shapes this decision. DeepSeek’s application programming interface (API) pricing sits well below rivals such as OpenAI, which suggests Chinese AI firms are competing through efficiency and lower prices 2.

HKGAI-V3 launch backs sovereign AI under export controls

• HKGAI-V3 is part of a wider effort to build a Chinese AI hardware and software stack. The Hong Kong government-backed lab is preparing a DeepSeek-based model that can run fully on Chinese-made chips 3.
• HKGAI’s approach adapts a Chinese model for Hong Kong’s needs. That gives other governments and public-sector labs a template for “sovereign AI,” with more local control over models, infrastructure, and data, while matching HKGAI’s plan to explore overseas markets 3.
• DeepSeek V4 is also rolling out amid U.S. allegations of intellectual property (IP) theft and model distillation, a technique that trains a new model on another model’s outputs, involving DeepSeek and other Chinese AI firms. That adds geopolitical risk for governments and businesses weighing this technology stack 4.