Are More US Companies Choosing China’s DeepSeek Over Costly Silicon Valley AI?

In June, the Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek topped a major US business spending index as more companies opted for its affordable solutions over pricier American counterparts like OpenAI and Anthropic. US firms have been making direct payments to DeepSeek, indicating data exchanges with China-hosted servers, according to Ara Kharazian, lead economist at Ramp Economics Lab. This trend highlights a growing interest in cost-effective alternatives. DeepSeek previously experienced a surge in popularity in January 2025, with US corporate adoption briefly rising before stabilizing. As of April, DeepSeek’s adoption rate was at 0.1 percent, while market leaders Anthropic and OpenAI held significant shares.