DeepSeek shifts towards commercial AI products with urgent hiring drive

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is urgently hiring for product and design roles as it pivots from pure research towards commercialising its large language model technology.

A job notice posted on its official WeChat account called for candidates with experience in product management and visual design to work in Beijing and Hangzhou.

The hiring move reflects DeepSeek’s ambition to create the ‘next generation of intelligent product experience’ centred on its powerful open-source models, following the success of its low-cost R1 reasoning model.

Founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek has quickly made a name for itself by challenging industry giants like OpenAI with affordable, high-performing models.

Its latest models, including the upgraded V3 and upcoming R2, have been praised for their strong reasoning and coding abilities, with open-source availability under the permissive MIT licence.

Major Chinese firms such as Tencent and Baidu have already integrated DeepSeek’s technology into their platforms, boosting its reputation as a major force in China’s AI race.

The rush to recruit product and operational leaders mirrors a wider industry trend as AI firms recognise the critical role of product managers in translating technological breakthroughs into real-world applications.

DeepSeek’s founder has made it clear that creativity and passion outweigh traditional experience in the company’s hiring priorities.

As the global AI industry continues to evolve, DeepSeek’s bold shift from research to product development signals a maturing market with fierce competition on both sides of the Pacific.

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