DeepSeek is a rapidly emerging player in the field of artificial intelligence. Launched in 2023 and backed by leading Chinese investors, DeepSeek AI focuses on building high-performance, open-source large language models (LLMs). With the release of models like DeepSeek R1 and DeepSeek V3, it has quickly positioned itself as a global competitor to giants like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.
Let’s break down everything you need to know, including what DeepSeek R1 is, how it compares to V3, and the role of platforms like Ollama.
What is DeepSeek R1?
DeepSeek R1 is a reasoning-focused AI model developed by DeepSeek AI. It was designed specifically to handle tasks that require multi-step logic, problem solving, and mathematical understanding. The R1 AI model builds on DeepSeek’s V3 architecture but introduces enhancements like reinforcement learning and chain-of-thought prompting to improve reasoning accuracy.
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Key Features:
- The R1 AI model utilizes a robust transformer architecture that is tuned for reinforcement learning.
- The R1 AI model excels in tasks that involve coding, mathematics, and logic.
- It facilitates structured reasoning while minimizing hallucinations.
- Developers can freely use and fine-tune DeepSeek R1, which is open-sourced under the MIT license.
If you’re wondering what DeepSeek R1 is, consider it to be DeepSeek’s response to OpenAI’s GPT-4-turbo and Claude 3.5—but at a significantly lower cost.
DeepSeek V3: General-Purpose Powerhouse
DeepSeek V3 is a general-purpose language model introduced before R1. It’s built as a Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) model with 671 billion parameters but activates only a fraction (~37B) at inference time, making it incredibly efficient.
Key Highlights:
- It is specifically designed for a wide range of NLP tasks, includingtext generation, summarization, translation, and chat.
- It is designed to be fast, versatile, and highly efficient in terms of computation.
- It performs competitively against GPT-4 and Gemini 1.5 across multiple benchmarks.
- This makes it an ideal choice for both commercial and research applications.
DeepSeek V3 vs R1: What’s the Difference?
If you’re comparing DeepSeek V3 vs R1, here’s what you need to know:
| Feature | DeepSeek V3 | DeepSeek R1 |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | General-purpose NLP model | Reasoning, coding, logic-focused |
| Architecture | Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) | Reinforced V3 base with fine-tuning |
| Speed | Faster response, conversational | Slower but more accurate and logical |
| Strength | Summarization, translation, chat | Math, code, multi-step reasoning |
| Licensing | MIT open-source | MIT open-source |
What is DeepSeek Ollama?
DeepSeek Ollama refers to the deployment of DeepSeek models via the Ollama platform. If you’re unfamiliar with what Ollama is, it’s a tool that allows you to run AI models locally on your device—no internet required. This is especially useful for privacy, performance, and customization.
With Ollama, you can run:
- deepseek-v3 for everyday AI tasks.
- deepseek-r1 for complex reasoning, logic, and coding challenges.
Ollama supports multiple model sizes (1.5B to 70B+ parameters) and lets users explore AI even without cloud APIs.
What is DeepThink R1?
There seems to be some confusion around DeepThink R1, but it’s likely a misinterpretation of DeepSeek R1. DeepSeek R1 is the official reasoning model released by DeepSeek AI. There is no widely recognized AI company or product officially called DeepThink R1 at this time. Most likely, users are referring to the DeepSeek R1 model when they search for this term.
Why DeepSeek Matters
DeepSeek’s commitment to openness and performance has earned it a place in the global AI race. With models like DeepSeek V3 and R1 available under open licenses, developers, researchers, and startups can
- Build commercial apps without expensive API fees.
- Deploy LLMs locally via Ollama.
- Compete globally using state-of-the-art language models.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re a researcher looking to test state-of-the-art reasoning models or a developer needing a general-purpose AI assistant, DeepSeek AI offers a robust solution. With DeepSeek R1 focused on advanced reasoning and DeepSeek V3 delivering versatile performance, and with DeepSeek Ollama making it easy to run locally, the ecosystem is well-rounded and future-ready.
If you’re exploring the AI space in 2025, DeepSeek is definitely a name to know.