Comment by ungovernableCat
3 hours ago
Its CEO allegedly holds a 84% stake and he's the same guy who founded the hedge fund that funds it.
Deep pockets + simple control = perfect culture to just hire talent and let them go wild without worrying about financial viability, as long as the king CEO is fine with it that is
While typical investors in their last round are subject to a five-year lock-up and will not have voting rights, China's National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund also put money into it, retaining both voting rights and freedom from the lock-up. Nothing really new if you're aware of how involved the CCP is with companies of strategic importance in China.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/chinas-deepseek-c...
Oh of course, you’re not getting into positions of power by not playing by the party’s rules. And if you get notions that you can tell THEM what to do you’ll be swiftly dealt with.
The company is doing well and providing great PR so the party is content to not meddle too much I imagine.
My comparison with American labs is more that I think they have to deal with bean counters, creditors, investors etc which can shuffle incentives and aims (and is a big reason why they dont do open weights anymore)