I have a slight inclination that tells me that deepseek is propped up by Chinese government and like an iceberg there are much deeper things going on. I don't know what though.
If they were dependent on government handouts, they would be hampered by the need to funnel money into corrupt decision-makers' pockets.
That DeepSeek is a spin-off of a hedge fund and as such has more freedom in allocating their capital probably significantly contributed to their success.
Chinese are sad riples in the pond. "IT IS US IT IS US". No... the ripples come from a drop in the pond which is a singular event. It is not your choosing. You have failed.