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DeepSeek Passes ChatGPT, Is Now The Top Free App In The US
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
TL;DR
Chinese AI platform DeepSeek has made waves in recent weeks thanks to the accompanying DeepSeek R1 AI model. Now, it turns out that DeepSeek's AI Assistant app has become the top free app on the Apple App Store.
The DeepSeek AI Assistant has passed OpenAI's ChatGPT to become the top free app on the Apple App Store in the US. Check out a screenshot of the chart below. The app is currently listed in 10th place on the Play Store's free apps chart, but seems to be rising quickly.
Apple
The company claims that this open-source model can compete with rival models from OpenAI and Meta while requiring only a fraction of the training budget. More specifically, the company asserts that training the model required just $12 million compared to $500 million for OpenAI's GPT-5.
Are you interested in DeepSeek's AI model?3827 votes
Yes, I'm already using it on my PC, phone, or both.
31%
I'm gonna go try it now.
18%
I have my eyes on it, but I haven't tried it yet.
31%
No.
20%
What's also notable is that the team behind DeepSeek reportedly claimed that they used older NVIDIA silicon to train the AI model. This is particularly noteworthy in light of the US barring the export of cutting-edge NVIDIA technology to China. It's also raised questions about the valuations of companies in the AI space.
Android Authority contributor Dhruv Bhutani recently went hands-on with the DeepSeek AI Assistant and concluded it was an "excellent" alternative to ChatGPT for several reasons. He cited the higher-quality output, the mostly free nature of the platform (at least for now), and the ability to run it locally on your own computer.
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China Is Dominating The US App Stores Amid Looming TikTok Ban
The geopolitical battle of the future is playing out on the app store charts.
Chinese-owned apps now account for half of the top 10 free apps on Apple's platform and hold both the number one and number two spots. Less than a month ago, they represented just a third of those apps, according to a Newsweek analysis.
Newsweek reached out to Apple via email for comment.
Now, things could change again. As part of a crackdown on Chinese-owned apps, TikTok—which boasts 170 million users in the U.S.—will be forced to shutter on Sunday pending a last-minute deal to punt the deadline. The TikTok ban comes after its parent company, ByteDance, refused to sell the app under the terms of a federal law signed by President Biden and endorsed on Friday by the Supreme Court.
This screenshot shows Apple's App Store charts on January 16, 2025. This screenshot shows Apple's App Store charts on January 16, 2025. App Store This screenshot shows Apple's App Store charts on January 12, 2024. This screenshot shows Apple's App Store charts on January 12, 2024. Wayback MachineAmid increasing national security concerns, Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act into law last year, paving the way for social network services controlled by foreign adversaries to be either divested or banned. The law applies directly to Chinese-owned ByteDance and its subsidiaries. Although owned by a Chinese internet company, TikTok in the form Americans know it is not available in China.
Of the five Chinese-owned apps on the App Store's Top 10, three are owned by ByteDance. Aside from TikTok, ByteDance also operates Lemon8, an alternative to TikTok that many users have flocked to amidst the looming ban, and Gauth AI, a "homework aide" that is quietly operated by ByteDance under its subsidiary GauthTech.
The top app is currently Xingin, also known as "RedNote." The impending TikTok ban has lead to a social media migration to RedNote, where over half a million "TikTok refugees" have moved in anticipation of Sunday's shutdown.
The other Chinese-owned app on the top 10 is Temu, a popular online marketplace that offers heavily discounted consumer goods. A year ago, Temu was ranked number one on the list.
The flood of Chinese-owned apps dominating the app store stands in stark contrast to what the rankings looked like a year ago. American-owned apps populated Apple's top 10 list in January 2024. Threads, Meta's version of Twitter, was ranked third. WhatsApp and Instagram, also owned by Meta, ranked 7th and 9th. Google and Gmail came 5th and 6th, respectively, behind ChatGPT (which has managed to hold onto fourth place a year later). And all of that was rounded out by Microsoft's two-factor authenticator app, which took the last spot on the list.
Today, only three of those American apps remain: ChatGPT, Threads (which dropped to 6th place) and Google (which dropped to 8th place).
In fact, the only U.S. Apps aside from ChatGPT that squeezed into the even more exclusive Top 5 were essentially TikTok clones. Clapper, a short-form video app billed as "TikTok for Adults" for its easier-to-use interface, and Flip, a social commerce app that's a direct competitor to TikTok's e-commerce arm.
Clapper and Flip are founded by foreign-born individuals who came to America to pursue their projects, once again highlighting the MAGA debate about foreign-worker visas that came to a head around Christmas.
Billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's views that the incoming Trump administration needs to bring in more foreign tech workers sparked fierce backlash from Trump supporters who argue those visas take jobs from American workers and depress U.S. Wages.
Social media apps are displayed on a screen on December 31, 2024 in Bath, England. Half of the top 10 free apps on Apple's App Store are owned by Chinese companies. Social media apps are displayed on a screen on December 31, 2024 in Bath, England. Half of the top 10 free apps on Apple's App Store are owned by Chinese companies. Anna Barclay/Getty ImagesClapper, which is based in Dallas, was founded by Edison Chen, a Chinese immigrant who moved to the U.S. In 2011 to complete his MBA, while Flip, which is based in Los Angeles, was founded by Noorg Aga, an Iraqi-born refugee who came to the U.S. In 2019.
Last week, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg expressed optimism on Joe Rogan's podcast that President-elect Donald Trump would help recognize the strategic advantage that the tech industry gives the U.S.
"The American technology industry is a bright spot in the American economy," Zuckerberg said.
"You could get a lot more done if the government were helping American companies rather than kind of slowing you down at every step along the way," the tech executive said, adding, "This is like a huge geopolitical competition, and, like, China's running at it super hard and we should want the American companies and the American standard to win."
As of Friday, the top free apps on the App Store are:
Starting Sunday, new TikTok downloads will no longer be possible. Those with the app already installed will reportedly be shown a pop-up message directing them to information about the ban if they try to access the network.
Brian Chao, a national security affairs professor at the Naval War College, told Newsweek that while U.S. Concerns about Chinese-owned apps are valid, "I'm not aware at the moment of the [Communist Party of China] actually accessing and using American citizens' data garnered via Chinese-owned social media for political purposes."
Chao, whose research focuses on great-power politics and China's rise, said there have been past instances of Beijing forcing private American companies to target individuals it doesn't like, "so it stands to reason that the CCP would find it easier to get data from a Chinese-owned company and use it as the Party sees fit."
"But again, I myself am not aware of an actual instance of the CCP using ostensibly confidential information collected by TikTok to do something to an American or group of Americans," he said.
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