IBM Integrates DeepSeek’s AI Models Into WatsonX Platform

• IBM has included DeepSeek’s R1 AI model in its watsonx.ai platform.
• The company said its inclusion reinforces its commitment to open-source AI innovation.
• DeepSeek’s reported smaller budget has come under scrutiny from some in the industry.

International Business Machines (IBM) has announced the arrival of China-based DeepSeek models to its enterprise AI development platform.

The move comes as more U.S. firms have begun working with the Chinese firm, potentially challenging the long-held dominance of more expensive domestic AI models.

IBM and DeepSeek

On Thursday, Feb. 13, the U.S. technology giant said it had started using distilled versions of DeepSeek-R1 to help enterprises build AI models for secure reasoning.

In a news release, IBM said including DeepSeek-R1 in its watsonx.ai platform was part of the company’s commitment to open-source innovation in AI.

By including the “best open source models,” which IBM has labeled DeepSeek, the company said it was promoting a culture of collaboration.

DeepSeek released its R1 AI model last month, claiming it cost significantly less to train than its U.S. rivals.

Cheaper AI Will Boost Adoption, Says IBM CEO

The potential breakthrough of much cheaper AI with the same power as larger, more established players has sent shockwaves through the U.S. technology industry.

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said the potential cutback on AI costs following DeepSeek’s success will significantly boost widespread adoption of the emerging tech.

“We will find that the usage will explode as costs come down,” Krishna told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, Feb. 11.

“I think it is a validation — we have been on the point that you do not have to spend so much money to get these models,” he added.

DeepSeek’s Hurdles

The level of success DeepSeek has achieved with such a smaller budget has come under fire from some in the industry.

In January, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei claimed that the Chinese company’s spending was not significantly different from that of its U.S. rivals.

DeepSeek’s overall threat to U.S. dominance was ‘greatly overstated,’ and he claimed Nvidia’s stock drop after its release was “baffling.”

At the same time, a study from BofA Global Research claimed that the $5.58 million cost of training DeepSeek’s model was “misleading” as it did not include research, algorithms, and data expenses.

However, the researchers claimed that reducing AI training costs was possible.

BofA Global Research analysts Brad Sills and Carly Liu wrote: “Cost is the biggest hurdle to adopting AI applications.

“We believe advancements in cost could drive the price even lower and therefore adoption higher.”