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DeepSeek
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DeepSeek’s V3.1 update and missing R1 label spark speculation over fate of R2 AI model

The Chinese start-up has introduced only a few incremental updates in recent months, while competitors have released new models

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DeepSeek has released a new update of its V3 model. Photo: AFP
Ben Jiangin Beijing
Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has updated its foundational V3 model and removed references to its reasoning model R1 from its chatbot, prompting speculation about a shift in the company’s research focus.

DeepSeek announced on Tuesday the release of the V3.1 model in a brief message to one of its WeChat user groups. The update expands the context window to 128k, allowing the model to hold more information – equivalent to a roughly 300-page book – during user interactions.

The company did not announce the update on its public social media channels, including its X account.

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DeepSeek has also deleted references to the R1 model from its chatbot’s “deep think” feature, raising questions about the progress of its much-anticipated next-generation R2 model.

[LIVE] China Future Tech webinar | A deep dive into China’s open-source AI revolution

[LIVE] China Future Tech webinar | A deep dive into China’s open-source AI revolution

Founded by entrepreneur Liang Wenfeng as a side project of his quantitative trading firm, DeepSeek gained global attention with the launch of V3 in December and R1 in January, which spurred a wave of open-source AI adoption in China. However, the company has not disclosed its development timeline or plans for future models.

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