Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s claim of developing a powerful AI model at a much lower cost than major tech giants like Alphabet’s (GOOGL)

The notion that China’s DeepSeek spent under $6 million to develop its artificial intelligence system is “exaggerated and a little bit misleading,” according Google DeepMind boss Demis Hassabis.

Google’s Hassabis acknowledged DeepSeek’s accomplishments but described its reported cost-efficiency figures as “exaggerated and a little bit misleading.”

Ahead of the Paris AI Action Summit, Demis Hassabis praised the Chinese startup behind DeepSeek R1 but said the hype around the new AI model was exaggerated.