TOKYO – For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence launch from DeepSeek, seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field.

More than a year has passed since the startup put Chinese AI on the map in early 2025 with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals.

But despite reports and rumours about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight.

Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new system: world-leading US designs or made-in-China alternatives that the country is racing to develop.

“It’s important to know because at one level, it is a signal of China’s AI self-sufficiency trajectory,” Ms Wei Sun, principal AI analyst at Counterpoint Research, told AFP.

Tech news outlet The Information reported last week that V4 can be run on the latest chips made by China’s Huawei.

Such a shift would mark a milestone for China in its bid to beat US restrictions on the export of top-of-the-range AI chips from Californian titan Nvidia to the country.

The report cited five people with direct knowledge of large orders for Huawei chips, made in preparation for the DeepSeek launch by tech giants including Alibaba, ByteDance and Tencent.

AFP contacted DeepSeek, Huawei, Alibaba, ByteDance and Tencent but none were able to comment.