Why Wall Street did not punish Apple and how the tech giant can benefit the most from China’s DeepSeek

With Apple Intelligence, Apple has been following a similar approach of being the best, not the first. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

It just shows that Apple’s hidebound, old-school approach may have saved the company—something no one anticipated when everyone criticised the iPhone maker for not taking risks and being way behind the curve in investing in generative AI. Apple has a reputation for being cautious, and although it did launch the Apple Intelligence suite of AI features.

But fears that Chinese startup DeepSeek’s open-source approach can flip the narrative and change the trajectory of AI beyond the questions of training costs and capital investment levels, could actually help Apple. So far, AI has been perceived through the lens of how Silicon Valley wanted to set the narrative—i.e., scaling up AI is only possible by investing more. In reality, however, each of the major American tech companies were biting their own tails, promising that once AI was fully developed the profits would be distributed within the closed circle. After all, the biggest buyers of AI technology were themselves. DeepSeek has challenged this status quo, which is why everyone is rushing back to the drawing board and looking for alternative models.

Visitors try Apple products at an Apple Store in Palo Alto, California. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

For Apple, though, the benefit is that it has always been in the consumer space and has never focused on the enterprise space like Microsoft. Additionally, its short-term profits are not tied to generative AI. DeepSeek’s approach to AI will take AI to the masses, and Apple’s strategy has also been the same, as it is so strong with its hardware and has the backing of the iPhones and Macs.

While it is unlikely, Apple could leverage DeepSeek’s open-source AI models, relying heavily on on-device capabilities while keeping the privacy layer intact. Apple has worked with OpenAI and Google for the current set of Apple Intelligence features. But DeepSeek’s new approach is more efficient, less capital-intensive, and easier to implement. This means Apple could quickly build new features.

Apple Intelligence is a set of AI tools integrated into the operating system, which relies heavily on on-device processing to deliver personal intelligence without collecting users’ data. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

Apple’s business model is very clear: it sells the iPhone and makes money from both hardware and services. By focusing on integrating AI models into its hardware rather than building its own, Apple opens the door to charge for Apple Intelligence features if it chooses and roll them out as part of a new service. It’s up to Apple—it can decide whether to charge consumers for Apple Intelligence features or treat AI as a secondary feature. The truth is that DeepSeek’s AI approach may positively impact how Apple sees and builds Apple Intelligence. It also shows that Apple doesn’t need to rush; it can do things at its own pace.