A surprising move in the AI community has sparked interest and debate, as a software engineer has purchased the domain name OGOpenAI.com and redirected it to DeepSeek, a Chinese AI lab that has been making waves in the open-source AI world. The engineer, Ananay Arora, told TechCrunch that he bought the domain name for "less than a Chipotle meal" and plans to sell it for more.

The move is seen as an apparent nod to DeepSeek's approach to releasing cutting-edge open AI models, similar to OpenAI's early days. DeepSeek's models can be used offline and for free by any developer with the necessary hardware, much like older OpenAI models such as Point-E and Jukebox. This has drawn comparisons to OpenAI, which has been criticized for its reluctance to release its most powerful models in an open format.

DeepSeek caught the attention of AI enthusiasts last week when it released an open version of its DeepSeek-R1 model, which the company claims performs better than OpenAI's o1 on certain benchmarks. This has sparked debate about OpenAI's shift towards more closed models, with some critics arguing that it goes against the startup's original nonprofit mission. In fact, OpenAI's reticence to release its most powerful models is cited in a lawsuit from Elon Musk.

Arora said he was inspired by a now-deleted post on X from Perplexity's CEO, Aravind Srinivas, comparing DeepSeek to OpenAI in its more "open" days. "I thought, hey, it would be cool to have [the] domain go to DeepSeek for fun," Arora told TechCrunch via DM.

The move also highlights the growing presence of Chinese AI labs in the open-source AI community. DeepSeek joins Alibaba's Qwen in the list of Chinese AI labs releasing open alternatives to OpenAI's models. This has implications for the global AI landscape, as the American government has tried to curb China's AI labs for years with chip export restrictions.

However, the latest AI models coming out of China may indicate that more needs to be done to address the growing competition. The redirect of OGOpenAI.com to DeepSeek serves as a symbol of the shifting landscape, where open-source AI models are becoming increasingly accessible and competitive.

In conclusion, the redirect of OGOpenAI.com to DeepSeek is a significant development in the AI community, highlighting the growing influence of Chinese AI labs and the importance of open-source AI models. As the AI landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how this move impacts the industry and sparks further innovation.