The rise of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek marks a significant and concerning shift for the rest of the players in the AI landscape. The recent Microsoft AI diffusion report warns that DeepSeek is spreading rapidly, and with it, China’s technology influence. Telcos outside of China should remain alert to the strategic impact this new development will pose, although Microsoft’s bias as a US tech company heavily invested in OpenAI, a competitor to DeepSeek, should also be noted. Microsoft ringing the alarm bell is an attempt to sell itself to telcos, but the lesson that telcos should take away from recent events is that the incumbent vendors are not necessarily the best choice. DeepSeek’s uniquely efficient approach to building and implementing…