On Monday, U.S. tech giant OpenAI introduced a new ChatGPT feature called “deep research,” designed to generate detailed reports, as competition intensifies with China’s DeepSeek chatbot. The announcement was made in Tokyo, where OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also revealed a joint venture with tech investment firm SoftBank Group to provide advanced AI solutions to businesses.
The emergence of DeepSeek has stirred excitement in Silicon Valley, with some experts highlighting its impressive capabilities and potential cost advantages, raising concerns among U.S. developers. OpenAI, which brought generative AI to the forefront with ChatGPT in 2022, stated that its latest tool can accomplish in minutes tasks that would typically take humans several hours. According to the company, users can input a prompt, and ChatGPT will analyze and synthesize information from hundreds of online sources to create a well-structured report, comparable to work produced by a professional research analyst.
Altman shared on social media platform X that “deep research,” available exclusively to paid ChatGPT Pro users with a monthly limit of 100 uses, is computationally demanding and relatively slow. However, he expressed optimism about its potential, noting that even if it currently performs a small fraction of economically valuable tasks worldwide, it represents a significant milestone. Entrepreneur Michel Levy Provencal speculated that this innovation could pose serious challenges for consultants and research professionals.
SoftBank and OpenAI are both involved in the U.S. government’s Stargate initiative, an ambitious effort announced by former President Donald Trump to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States. On Monday evening, Altman and SoftBank’s founder Masayoshi Son met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, discussing the possibility of expanding Stargate to Japan. Son later told reporters that the goal is to build the most advanced AI infrastructure, including cutting-edge AI data centers, though he provided no further specifics.
Ishiba is scheduled to travel to Washington later this week for his first in-person meeting with Trump. Earlier in the day, at a business forum, Son announced a new 50-50 joint venture between SoftBank and OpenAI. Holding a purple crystal ball, he introduced “Cristal,” an AI-driven system designed to process company data, reports, emails, and meetings to enhance business efficiency. According to a joint statement, SoftBank will allocate $3 billion annually to deploy OpenAI’s technology across its subsidiaries. The initiative aims to develop AI solutions tailored to Japanese businesses while serving as a model for global AI adoption.
Meanwhile, DeepSeek’s rapid progress has led to speculation that it may have reverse-engineered U.S. AI models, particularly those powering ChatGPT. OpenAI recently cautioned that Chinese firms are actively attempting to replicate its advanced AI technology, prompting closer collaboration with U.S. authorities. When asked about potential legal action against DeepSeek, Altman stated that OpenAI has no immediate plans to sue but acknowledged the model’s impressive performance. He expressed confidence that OpenAI would continue to push AI advancements and deliver superior products despite increased competition.
OpenAI has accused rival companies of utilizing a process known as distillation, where smaller AI models are trained by imitating the behavior and decision-making processes of larger ones—similar to a student learning from a teacher. Ironically, OpenAI itself faces multiple allegations of intellectual property violations related to its use of copyrighted materials in training generative AI models.
While OpenAI has not officially disclosed Altman’s upcoming travel plans, media reports suggest that he will visit Seoul on Tuesday. A spokesperson for South Korean tech conglomerate Kakao confirmed that the company will be announcing a collaboration with OpenAI, though they did not specify whether Altman would be present at the event.
