Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek on Thursday formally released its official V4 Pro model, aiming to regain ground against fast-moving domestic rivals as it expands hiring, computing capacity and fundraising efforts. DeepSeek said the V4-Pro-0813 greatly enhances agent capabilities and is available through the API, APP and Web channels.
The company also said it will raise API pricing for its V4 Pro and V4 Flash models and introduce peak and off-peak pricing.
The release will be closely watched after DeepSeek’s cheaper V4 Flash model unexpectedly outperformed the April preview of V4 Pro in several independent tests. Because pro is designed as the company’s more capable product, suggesting DeepSeek had improved its technology rapidly between the preview release and the official launch, that was unusual.
Reuters also reported in July that it had increased private hiring of chip-design engineers to develop its own AI chip, an effort that could reduce reliance on suppliers including Nvidia and Huawei.
DeepSeek has said it aims to at least double staffing across departments, including data-centre and AI-agent teams.
