DeepSeek is reportedly offering off-peak hour discounts to ease demand on its services.
As Bloomberg News reported Wednesday (Feb. 26), those discounts could reach as high as 75% for users hoping to access the artificial intelligence (AI) company’s application programming interface (API).
Beginning Wednesday, that report said, access to DeepSeek’s V3 model will cost half its normal price during the hours of 12:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Beijing time. The cost of the company’s R1 model — powering its self-named chatbot — will be slashed by three-quarters.
DeepSeek has been dealing with rampant demand among both users and developers who have adopted its technology. Among them are companies such as Tencent and Perplexity AI, as well as departments within the government of Hong Kong, the report added.
The news came one day after DeepSeek resumed allowing top-up credits for API access, while also warning that demand could be strained during busier hours.
DeepSeek sent shockwaves through the tech world last month with the launch of its AI chatbot, said to perform on the level of OpenAI’s offering at a sliver of the cost.
Gokul Naidu, a consultant for SAP, told PYMNTS soon after the launch that DeepSeek was not only a new AI model but “a wake-up call for the entire AI industry.”
“It challenges entrenched assumptions about the cost of innovation and offers a path forward where cutting-edge technology is both affordable and sustainable,” Naidu said. “As we move deeper into 2025, the conversation around AI is no longer just about power — it’s about power at the right price. And in this race, DeepSeek might just have redefined the finish line.”
Last week saw reports that the company — backed by a Chinese hedge fund — was for the first time considering raising outside funding.
As a report by the Information noted, DeepSeek has aimed to avoid investor pressure to speed the commercialization of its products, and has worried that raising money from China’s high-profit investors could impede its efforts to do business in the U.S.
However, a surge in use of its chatbot has driven a need for more AI chips and servers, prompting the company to consider outside funding, that report added.
