DeepSeek releases V4 preview, claims parity with GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet
DeepSeek released a preview of its V4 model on April 24, 2026, claiming the open-source system matches leading closed-source models from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI. The company emphasized improved coding capabilities and compatibility with domestic Huawei chips, but did not disclose training costs or hardware specifications.
DeepSeek V4 Preview Released with Claimed Parity to Leading US Models
Chinese AI company DeepSeek released a preview of its V4 model on April 24, 2026, claiming the open-source system can compete with leading closed-source models from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI.
Key Details
DeepSeek did not disclose:
- Training costs for V4
- Hardware used for training
- Specific benchmark scores
- Context window size
- Pricing information
The company emphasized that V4 represents a "major improvement" over prior models, particularly in coding capabilities. DeepSeek explicitly highlighted compatibility with domestic Huawei technology, marking what the company describes as a milestone for China's chip industry.
Context and Controversy
The V4 preview arrives approximately one year after DeepSeek's R1 model disrupted the US AI industry. DeepSeek claimed R1 was trained at a fraction of the cost of leading American systems, though specific cost figures were never independently verified.
US officials have accused DeepSeek of using banned Nvidia chips for training. Separately, Anthropic has claimed DeepSeek misused Claude to improve its own products, though details of these allegations remain unclear.
Coding Focus
According to DeepSeek, V4's enhanced coding performance targets capabilities that have become central to AI agents and driven adoption of systems like ChatGPT Codex and Claude Code. The company did not provide specific benchmarks comparing V4's coding performance to competitors.
What This Means
DeepSeek's V4 preview continues the pattern established with R1: bold claims about competitive performance without disclosed training costs, hardware specifications, or independent benchmark verification. The emphasis on Huawei chip compatibility suggests China's AI industry is working to reduce dependence on restricted Western semiconductor technology, though the practical performance implications remain unclear. Until DeepSeek releases concrete benchmarks and technical details, the actual capabilities of V4 relative to GPT-4o, Gemini, and Claude 3.5 Sonnet cannot be independently assessed.
Related Articles
Mistral releases final Le Chonk, a trillion-parameter open-weight model it calls best for coding and cybersecurity
Mistral has released the finalized version of Le Chonk, a trillion-parameter open-weight model that is now freely available. The company claims it is the world's best open-weight model for automated coding and cybersecurity, matching or surpassing models from DeepSeek and Z.ai.
DeepSeek V5 identifiers appear in official Harness repository on GitHub
Three DeepSeek V5 model identifiers have appeared in the company's official Harness repository on GitHub, according to TechNode. The identifiers are deepseek-v5, deepseek-v5-open and deepseek-v5-next, and they appear in tests for the software's DeepSeek account integration.
Baseten releases joey-1, a 2B-parameter open-weights decision model, at $0.01 per million tokens
Baseten released joey-1 on October 29, 2026. It is a 2B-parameter decision model from its in-house research lab Base Labs, priced at $0.01 per million tokens. It is available through Baseten Model APIs and as open weights on Hugging Face.
ElevenLabs releases SFX v3, a sound effects model built for multi-sound prompts
ElevenLabs has released SFX v3, its newest sound effects model, now available in ElevenCreative and through ElevenAPI. The company claims it handles prompts describing multiple sounds more reliably, generates music and vocals more convincingly, and produces cleaner audio than SFX v2 in benchmark testing.
Comments
Loading...