What's Happening

Tech

There's a New AI Chatbot in Town and Wall Street Is Shaking in Its Boots

What's going on: A new rival for ChatGPT has entered, well, the chat. R1, an AI assistant developed by Chinese startup DeepSeek, became the most-downloaded free app in Apple’s US App Store after its launch over the weekend. The chatbot’s popularity has sent ripples through the tech world, causing the stock prices of major AI chipmakers like Nvidia to plummet yesterday. R1 delivers nearly the same capabilities as OpenAI’s GPT-4, Meta’s Llama, and Google’s Gemini for a fraction of the cost, according to The Washington Post. DeepSeek has also open sourced its AI model, allowing others to potentially create their own versions. But the company’s claims may be too good to be true, according to Axios, and there’s also the possibility of national security concerns à la TikTok.

What it means: DeepSeek claims that R1’s development cost just $6 million — way less than the tens of billions OpenAI and Microsoft spent on their platforms — and that it required far fewer Nvidia chips. If true, it raises questions about whether US investments in AI have been unnecessarily high. The Trump administration recently announced $500 billion in AI investments as part of a promised “golden age” for American tech. Now, R1’s success could be leading to some deep regret over those spending plans (someone check on Trump’s tech bros). DeepSeek’s rise is also fueling concerns that China may be surpassing the US in AI scale and efficiency, potentially intensifying the tech rivalry between the two nations.

Related: A French Chatbot Was Discontinued After Wild Responses Circulated (CNN)

International

Palestinians Return to Northern Gaza, While Some Israeli Hostages Return Home

What's going on: Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returned to northern Gaza for the first time since the start of the 15-month Israel-Hamas war, per the Government Media Office in Gaza. Israel opened the northern corridor after a two-day delay caused by a dispute in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, during which Israel said Hamas failed to release a female hostage over the weekend. (Hamas has since said it will release three additional Israeli hostages later this week.) As Palestinians arrived in the north, many found their homes were nothing but rubble, as the area endured some of the war’s heaviest destruction. Still, one father of four told The Associated Press that simply being able to return was a “joy.”

Tell me more: This comes after Hamas released four more hostages on Saturday in exchange for about 200 Palestinian prisoners. All the hostages were women and Israeli soldiers, including 19-year-old Liri Albag, whose family said her homecoming brought a “wave of relief.” Israeli officials said Hamas informed them that eight of the remaining 26 hostages due to be released in the ceasefire’s first phase are dead. Negotiations for the second phase, which will include discussions on the release of the remaining hostages and a potential complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, are scheduled to begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire, Feb. 4.

Related: Trump Wanted Egypt and Jordan To Take in Palestinian Refugees — the Countries Gave a Hard “No” (PBS News)

Science

One Company's Plans to Bring Back the Dodo Might Take Flight

What's going on: The dodo didn’t have much going for it before its extinction more than three centuries ago. It laid just one egg a year, couldn’t fly, was an easy target for predators, and wasn’t exactly the cutest bird in town. However, one bioscience company doesn’t care about any of that and wants to “de-extinct” the bird. Colossal plans to use gene-editing technology to tweak the DNA of their closest living relative: the common pigeon (which would be a great rebrand for the “flying rats”). The idea is to insert dodo DNA into a developing pigeon embryo, giving birth to a bird that would genetically be a dodo.

What it means: Scientists behind the de-extinction effort say the animals could help combat climate change, and perfecting the science could save endangered animals. Colossal, which is also working to bring back the woolly mammoth and Tasmanian tiger, says the animals can help restore grasslands and reduce carbon emissions. But bringing these creatures back is only part of the challenge — finding suitable habitats for them to survive is another story. Critics, meanwhile, argue that reintroducing extinct animals (which is far into the future) could disrupt existing ecosystems and question whether scientists should be “playing god” in the first place.

Related: “Nature’s Little Gardner” Has Been Brought Back from Near Extinction and Is Cuter than Dodos (CNN)