本案例让学员扮演梁及其管理团队的角色，评估如何将技术动能转化为财务可持续性。学员需评估DeepSeek作为开源新进入者的颠覆性，并批判性审视三大主要盈利路径：商业授权、战略合作与增值服务。每条路径在控制力、可扩展性与长期防御性之间存在独特权衡。案例同时剖析了复杂化盈利决策的核心挑战与战略张力，引导学员反思人工智能产业的未来走向—尤其在日益激烈的竞争与监管环境中，开放性与可及性等价值理念如何影响战略抉择。.
针对工程、计算机科学及相关领域的技术型学员，本案例提供可选讨论扩展模块，深入探讨DeepSeek人工智能模型的架构基础。.
In early 2025, Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Basic Technology Research Co. Ltd. (DeepSeek), a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up, released a suite of open-source generative AI models that rivalled leading Western alternatives in performance, despite operating with significantly less capital and hardware infrastructure. Founded by former hedge fund manager Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek quickly emerged as a disruptive force in the global AI landscape by championing open access to advanced foundation models. The company’s R1 model, launched at the start of the year, drove viral adoption across markets and outperformed expectations in both cost efficiency and user engagement. However, DeepSeek’s commitment to open-source ideals has created a critical strategic dilemma. Without clear monetization channels such as licensing fees or subscription models, the company faces mounting pressure to sustain its rapid growth and high-cost research and development (R&D) operations. At the same time, DeepSeek must navigate geopolitical risks, platform dependencies, and intensifying global competition, all while preserving the transparency and community goodwill that underpinned its early success.
The case places students in the role of Liang and his executive team as they assess how to translate technical momentum into financial sustainability. Students are challenged to evaluate the disruptiveness of DeepSeek as an open-source entrant and critically assess three primary monetization paths: commercial licensing, strategic partnerships, and value-added services. Each path presents distinct trade-offs between control, scalability, and long-term defensibility. The case also explores key challenges and strategic tensions that complicate monetization decisions. It prompts reflection on broader questions about the future of the AI industry, particularly how values such as openness and accessibility influence strategic choices in an increasingly competitive and regulated landscape.
For instructors teaching tech-savvy students in engineering, computer science, or related fields, an optional discussion extension is provided to explore the architectural foundations of DeepSeek’s AI models.
深度求索与开源人工智能：可持续变现的破局之路 (DeepSeek and Open-Source AI: Navigating the Path to Sustainable Monetization Simplified Chinese version)
Ting Li, Darren Meister, Ethan Rong
Product #:W49027
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Entrepreneurship, Information Systems
Setting:United States, China, 2025
Your Price:$9.71
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Learning Objectives
完成本案例及配套习题后，学生将能够：
- 通过分析DeepSeek的创新模式如何挑战专有模型并重塑行业格局，理解开源创新对人工智能领域的战略影响
- 通过分析商业授权、战略合作与增值服务等盈利路径间的权衡取舍，评估开源技术企业的商业化策略
- 评估外部约束如何影响商业模式可行性：考察开源模式结合地缘政治、平台依赖性等外部力量，如何塑造DeepSeek的商业化路径。
- 探讨理念与商业化之间的张力：反思优先发展开放创新与追求短期利润的权衡关系，并审视DeepSeek这类使命驱动型企业能否在不违背价值观的前提下实现规模扩张。
This case is suitable for use in courses on strategy, information systems, and entrepreneurship at both the undergraduate and MBA levels. It fits in well in sessions focused on digital strategy, platform economics, open-source innovation, and business model design.
After working through this case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:
- Understand the strategic impact of open-source innovation in AI by analyzing how DeepSeek’s approach challenges proprietary models and reshapes industry dynamics.
- Evaluate monetization strategies for open-source technology firms by analyzing the trade-offs between commercial licensing, strategic partnerships, and value-added services as monetization pathways.
- Assess how external constraints shape business model viability by examining how open-sourcing, combined with external forces like geopolitics and platform dependencies, influence DeepSeek’s path to commercialization.
- Debate the tension between ideology and commercialization by reflecting on the trade-offs of prioritizing open innovation over short-term profit, and whether mission-driven firms like DeepSeek can scale up without compromising their values.