DeepSeek AI: What It Is, How It Works, Features, and How to Use It

What is DeepSeek AI?

DeepSeek is a Hangzhou-based artificial intelligence company founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng. It grew from an AI research initiative associated with High-Flyer, the quantitative investment firm Liang also founded. Reliable background reporting from Reuters documents that company history.

The name “DeepSeek AI” can refer to several related but different things:

• The company that develops and publishes the models.
• The official DeepSeek Chat website and mobile application.
• The DeepSeek family of language, reasoning, vision, coding, OCR, and mathematical models.
• The directly billed developer API.
• DeepSeek Harness, a desktop agent environment.
• Downloadable official model weights for self-hosting or research.
• Third-party applications and providers that integrate or host DeepSeek models.

These products should not be treated as interchangeable. A capability documented for the API may not appear in the standard chat interface, and an installed desktop application may still send model requests to a hosted provider.

Choose how you want to use DeepSeek

The best route depends on whether you need a hosted chatbot, a mobile app, a programmable model, a desktop agent, or a model you operate yourself.

A third-party application using a DeepSeek model is not automatically an official DeepSeek product. The third party may use different models, prices, upload limits, retention rules, and security controls.

Need an installer? Our DeepSeek download guide separates official mobile apps, web access, Harness desktop, and model weights.

How to start using DeepSeek Chat

1. Open the official service. Go to DeepSeek Chat through the company’s official domain. Sign in if the current interface requests it.
2. Use non-sensitive information. Do not begin with a confidential document, password, API key, client record, identity document, or private business information.
3. Choose a checkable task. A small calculation, public concept, or fictional paragraph is more useful than a vague request such as “show me what you can do.”
4. Select the relevant feature. Use web search for recent information, file upload for document-based questions, or a thinking mode when the task benefits from more reasoning.
5. Verify the result. Recalculate numbers, open cited sources, review code, and compare document answers with the original file.

A journey is 150 km long and the vehicle travels at a constant 60 km/h without stops.

Calculate the journey time, show the formula, and list any information still needed to calculate fuel consumption.

Do not assume missing values.

What can DeepSeek AI do?

DeepSeek supports a broad range of AI tasks, but each capability must be matched to the correct product, model, or interface.

Can DeepSeek generate images?

The current standard DeepSeek API documents image understanding through deepseek-flash: the request can include an image and the model returns text. That supports tasks such as describing a screenshot or reading a chart, but it does not make the standard API an image generator.

See our DeepSeek image generation guide for the separate Janus-Pro route and its limits.

DeepSeek has also published separate specialist models in the Janus family that include image-generation research. Janus is a separate downloadable model family with its own setup and requirements; it should not be described as a feature automatically included in every DeepSeek Chat or API session.

Which DeepSeek model is current?

The answer depends on whether you mean the direct API, the consumer assistant, or the broader catalog of downloadable releases.

The official DeepSeek model and pricing documentation currently lists deepseek-flash and deepseek-v4-pro. Legacy names such as deepseek-v4-flash and deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp may still be accepted for compatibility, but their requests are routed to V4.1 Flash.

The current consumer app is described as using DeepSeek’s latest flagship model, but that statement does not identify the exact backend model for every interface, account, or mode. Do not infer a specific API model from a consumer interface label unless DeepSeek documents the mapping.

Is DeepThink the same as DeepSeek-R1?

Not necessarily. DeepThink is an interface or reasoning-mode label rather than a dependable permanent model identifier. Current DeepSeek API models support thinking and non-thinking operation, so enabling a reasoning mode does not by itself prove that the backend is the historical R1 checkpoint.

Is DeepSeek AI free?

The official consumer chat and mobile app are offered free, but not every way of using DeepSeek is free.

For API rates and worked cost examples, see our DeepSeek pricing guide.

The direct API distinguishes uncached input, cached input, and generated output, and its current documentation also describes peak and off-peak rates. Check the official DeepSeek pricing page before estimating a project.

A model named deepseek-v4-pro is not proof of a monthly consumer “Pro” plan. It is an API model identifier. Likewise, topping up an API balance is not the same as buying a fixed-price subscription.

DeepSeek API for developers

The DeepSeek API platform is intended for developers who want to add DeepSeek models to an application, automation, agent, or internal workflow.

The documentation provides OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic-compatible access routes. Compatibility can simplify migration, but it does not mean that every parameter, model feature, endpoint, limit, or data policy is identical to another provider.

• deepseek-flash: the current Flash route, including text and image input.
• deepseek-v4-pro: the current text-only Pro route.
• Thinking controls: both current API models support thinking and non-thinking operation.
• Application capabilities: the current documentation includes tool calls, JSON output, a Responses API, and Anthropic-format access.

Choose a model by testing representative tasks rather than assuming that “Pro” must always be better. Keep the prompt, tools, reasoning settings, and acceptance criteria consistent. Compare correctness, retries, latency, output format, and total usage across the complete task.

Protect API keys as credentials. Keep them out of public repositories, client-side browser code, screenshots, and shared prompts. Validate structured responses and review generated tool calls before execution.

What is DeepSeek Harness?

DeepSeek Harness is an open-source desktop agent environment in public preview. It is designed for work involving documents, spreadsheets, code, files, plugins, and background tasks.

Our DeepSeek Harness setup guide covers installation, model-provider configuration and permissions.

Harness can be used with official DeepSeek model services or with a custom model provider. When a custom provider is configured, Harness acts as the desktop interface and tool layer while the selected provider handles the model request. A desktop interface therefore does not prove that model inference is local.

Harness has more operational power than ordinary chat because it can work with authorized files, processes, plugins, tools, and credentials. Begin with a limited test folder, back up important data, review plugins and commands, and require confirmation before destructive or consequential actions.

Can you run DeepSeek locally?

Yes. DeepSeek publishes official model weights through its Hugging Face organization and code through its official GitHub organization.

For a Windows starting point with a smaller distilled checkpoint, follow our local DeepSeek R1 guide.

Available releases include general-purpose models, the R1 reasoning family, smaller R1 distills, coding models, vision-language models, OCR models, mathematical models, and multimodal research models.

Local deployment does not mean that every DeepSeek model will fit on an ordinary computer. The largest models require substantial storage and memory. Smaller distilled checkpoints may be more practical, but they are separate models trained from reasoning examples rather than unchanged smaller copies of the full model.

Before downloading a model

• Identify the exact checkpoint and whether it is base, instruct, chat, distilled, or specialist.
• Read the license attached to that release and any relevant parent-model conditions.
• Confirm that your chosen runtime supports the architecture and quantization.
• Check the weight-file size separately from required system RAM and GPU VRAM.
• Account for context memory, runtime overhead, the operating system, and other applications.
• Check whether the surrounding interface enables cloud models, web search, remote tools, logging, plugins, or telemetry.

Is DeepSeek open source?

DeepSeek publishes substantial open-source code and many official downloadable model weights. However, the precise licensing and level of openness vary by release.

Public model weights do not automatically include the complete training dataset, every training recipe, all operational infrastructure, or free compute. “Open-weight” is often the clearest description when referring specifically to downloadable model parameters.

Always inspect the exact release’s license. Do not assume that every DeepSeek-related model uses the same license or provides identical commercial permissions.

DeepSeek privacy, safety, and accuracy

Privacy, software security, and answer accuracy are separate questions. A model may produce a useful response while the hosted service processes information you would not want to share. A local model may keep inference on your device while still producing incorrect output.

What information can the hosted service process?

DeepSeek’s current Privacy Policy says user input can include prompts, uploaded files, photos, voice input, feedback, and chat history. It also describes collecting account, device, network, diagnostic, usage, and approximate-location information.

The policy states that personal data is directly collected, processed, and stored in the People’s Republic of China. It does not provide one universal deletion deadline for all information; retention can depend on the type of data, purpose, account status, legal obligations, and security needs.

Avoid submitting passwords, API keys, unredacted identity documents, health records, confidential client or employee information, trade secrets, or material you are not authorized to share.

Can you opt out of model improvement?

DeepSeek’s current Terms of Use document a setting called “Improve the model for everyone.” Turning it off is described as opting out of the specified use of input and output for improving the service or underlying technology.

That control should not be confused with deleting a visible conversation, deleting an account, requesting erasure, or obtaining a zero-retention agreement. These are different actions with different scopes.

Can DeepSeek make mistakes?

Yes. DeepSeek’s policies warn that outputs may be inaccurate or incomplete and should not be treated as professional advice. Thinking mode, web search, a longer context window, or a confident explanation does not eliminate that limitation.

• Check factual claims against primary sources.
• Recalculate important numbers independently.
• Review generated code before running it.
• Test automations in a restricted environment.
• Use qualified professionals for medical, legal, financial, employment, insurance, or other consequential decisions.

DeepSeek AI vs ChatGPT

DeepSeek and ChatGPT overlap in general chat, writing, coding, file analysis, and research, but they are separate ecosystems with different models, interfaces, prices, data practices, and deployment options.

A fair comparison should match the exact product tier, model, tools, date, and task. Avoid universal claims such as “DeepSeek is always better for coding” or “ChatGPT is always better for writing.” Test representative tasks and compare correctness, citations, feature coverage, cost, data controls, and the effort required to correct mistakes.

Who is DeepSeek AI best suited to?

The most useful evaluation is task-based. Use the same input, evidence, tools, and acceptance criteria across the services you are considering. Record the product, model or mode where known, date, prompt, uploaded material, result, cost, and corrections required.

Frequently asked questions