This Week's Deep Dive 

Key Takeaways 

• The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched inquiries into Big Tech’s AI partnerships, highlighting concerns over market dominance and competition. 

• DeepSeek and the rise of lean AI are redefining unit economics, challenging the “bigger is better” assumption, and proving that billion-dollar budgets are no longer essential for AI breakthroughs. 

• The AI landscape is at a turning point in 2025-26, with investments shifting toward specialized firms and geopolitical shifts prompting a strategic recalibration of AI development and power dynamics. 

When DeepSeek entered the Artificial Intelligence race in 2024, it changed the rules of the game. The Chinese startup startled the world by building a cheaper language model that could rival Silicon Valley’s best, sending a clear message that innovations in AI were no longer limited to deep-pocketed tech giants. 

For decades, heavyweights like Alphabet, Microsoft, AWS, Github, OpenAI, and Meta have led the AI revolution, pouring billions into research and infrastructure. Their dominance seemed unrivalled. But DeepSeek’s entry marks a broader shift, where disruptive startups are beginning to challenge industry titans. Companies like Mistral AI, Anthropic, and Perplexity are shaking the Big Tech swagger by building competitive AI systems without bigger budgets and top-tier chips that were once thought to be the only ways of advancing AI. 

At the heart of this shift lie remarkable diversity, innovation and specialization that have propelled start-ups as powerful players in AI development. Moreover, decentralised AI platforms are further accelerating this change by reducing dependency on centralised cloud infrastructure.