In a recent post to X, DeepSeek announced its own “Open Source Week” during which it pledged to open source five repositories:

Beyond referring to the repositories as “building blocks in our online service”, DeepSeek has provided no details on what the code does or how it relates to its “open source” R1 model. It’s certainly possible that the source code releases will be of minimal importance or utility.

But in competitive sectors like AI where innovation moves at breakneck speeds, perception is reality. DeepSeek has already made quite a splash with R1, which has put pressure on its closed source rivals and added weight to calls for openness in AI development. As we’ve previously observed, these are all wins for COSS, as the more access the public has to AI technology, the more opportunities arise for enterprising minds to build COSS businesses that use that technology to solve problems.