DeepSeek craze unleashes wave of paid AI courses on Chinese social media

Since artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek's free, open-source chatbot caught fire in China and around the world, a torrent of AI-related courses has begun flooding across mainland social media platforms, with prices ranging from 9.9 yuan (HK$10.55) to 599 yuan.

These courses cover a wide scope of topics spanning basic concepts and app usage to advanced techniques that include command sets, as well as strategies for using DeepSeek in e-commerce operations.

A popular DeepSeek community that charges 61 yuan for membership has earned more than 180,000 yuan in revenue solely from entry fees, within just a month of DeepSeek’s surge in popularity.

However, some consumers have noticed that many of these so-called training courses are merely compilations of publicly available online information. Experts have also advised against paying for such courses, arguing that many fall below professional standards.