The cutting-edge AI technology from Chinese startup DeepSeek has been referred to by US President Donald Trump as a “wakeup call” for American businesses.

During his speech in Florida on Monday, Trump emphasised the importance of DeepSeek’s faster and less expensive AI techniques, speculating that they would help the US IT sector gain a competitive advantage.

Trump said, “The release of DeepSeek, AI from a Chinese company, should be a wakeup call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win,” highlighting how urgent it is for American companies to improve their performance in the global AI race.

Read also: DeepSeek’s low-cost AI shakes global tech giants, sends stocks tumbling

DeepSeek unsettles global tech stock

Due to investors’ concerns about the possible challenge to the long-standing dominance of U.S.-based AI companies, the launch of this low-cost AI model from China caused a sharp sell-off in technology equities globally on Monday.

“I’ve been reading about China and some of the companies in China, one,, in particular coming up with a faster method of AI and a much less expensive method, and that’s good because you don’t have to spend as much money. I view that as a positive, as an asset.” Trump said, expressing optimism about the development.

He went on to explain that this might help American businesses by lessening the cost of developing AI while yet producing comparable results.

“I view that as a positive because you’ll be doing that too, so you won’t be spending as much, and you’ll get the same result, hopefully,” he added.

Read also: NVIDIA’s stock faces pressure as DeepSeek’s open-source AI model gains traction

Lessons to learn from Chinese DeepSeek low-cost development 

Trump also discussed his talks with Chinese leaders, who allegedly recognised the U.S.’s superior scientific talent. Based on these new, affordable technologies from China, he proposed that the United States might use its position to innovate and adapt.

“We always have the ideas. We’re always first. So I would say that’s a positive that could be very much a positive development. So instead of spending billions and billions, you’ll spend less, and you’ll come up with, hopefully, the same solution,” he emphasised.

In his closing remarks, Trump outlined a future in which American innovation could flourish by taking inspiration from the world’s AI technological breakthroughs.