DeepSeek Hit By "Large-Scale" Cyberattack

Chinese AI company DeepSeek reminded Western investors about global competition in the artificial intelligence race, particularly in China, where large language models can be developed and trained at a fraction of the cost incurred by Mag7 companies. This sparked a global selloff across the AI complex as investors worry over "negative capex impact" and ROI concerns over hefty AI investments.

In a separate development, DeepSeek's API landing page posted this warning around noon: "Due to large-scale malicious attacks on DeepSeek's services, registration may be busy. Please wait and try again. Registered users can log in normally. Thank you for your understanding and support."

The Hangzhou-based company continued, "To ensure continued service, registration is temporarily limited to +86 phone numbers. Existing users can log in as usual."

DeepSeek did not disclose who was behind the "attacks" or where they originated. However, given that hundreds of billions of dollars in market capitalization were wiped out from Mag7 stocks (-$700bln), plus a massive AI narrative shift, one might reasonably speculate about where the attacks are coming from, directly or indirectly through proxy groups.

Our forensics analysis of Chinese public records provides a more in-depth view of DeepSeek.

Business purpose:

Hangzhou Deep Quest Artificial Intelligence Basic Technology Research Co., Ltd., with its office address located in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province and a paradise on earth, Room 1201, Building 1, West Huijin International Building, No. 169 North Huancheng Road, Gongshu District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province (registered address), our company mainly provides: engineering and technical research and experimental development; technical services, technical development, technical consulting, technical exchanges, technology transfer, and technology promotion; software development; computer system services; information system integration services; artificial intelligence application software development; information technology consulting services; electronic product sales; communication equipment sales; instrument sales; data processing services; Internet data services; computer software, hardware and auxiliary equipment retail; artificial intelligence hardware sales; professional design services.

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/deepseek-hit-large-scale-cyberattack

7 Charged In America's Biggest COVID Tax Credit Fraud Scheme

Defendants Allegedly Filed Over 8,000 False Tax Returns, Seeking to Defraud the United States of Over $600M

An indictment was unsealed today in Central Islip, New York, charging seven individuals with operating a multi-state conspiracy in which they attempted to defraud the United States of more than $600 million by filing more than 8,000 false tax returns claiming COVID-19-related employment tax credits.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact, Congress authorized a tax credit that incentivized businesses to keep employees on their payroll, also known as the “Employee Retention Credit” or ERC.

Congress also authorized a credit that reimbursed businesses for the wages paid to employees who were on sick or family leave and could not work because of COVID-19. This “paid sick and family leave credit,” or SFLC, was equal to the wages the business paid the employees during their leave.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/seven-charged-nations-largest-covid-19-tax-credit-scheme

Donald Trump is releasing more secrets than any president in history. Matt Taibbi on the top ten mysteries we’re likely to solve.

(0:00) Fauci’s Pardon

(7:32) The J6 Committee’s Pardon

(11:02) The Golden Age of Journalism Has Begun

(17:44) The Major Questions We Should Be Asking Now That Trump Is President

(29:00) The Destruction of Nord Stream Will Kill the EU

(33:57) The Key Players of COVID That Have Yet to Be Investigated

(36:20) The New Media Landscape

(45:17) Trump’s Mass Disclosure Will Make Certain People Very Dangerous

(51:13) Will We Ever Truly Know the Purpose of the COVID Regime?

(58:45) Russiagate and the Leaked DNC Emails

(1:03:28) Kash Patel and Political Espionage

(1:20:30) The Intel Agencies That Control Wikipedia

(1:33:47) How They Try to Brainwash Us Into Submission

https://x.com/i/status/1883939641499258998

Of note they are not calling for the Epstein Diddy lists

MSM version

What is DeepSeek, and why did the AI startup cause US tech stocks to fall?

A frenzy over an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot made by Chinese tech startup DeepSeek has up-ended US stock markets and fuelled a debate over the economic and geopolitical competition between the US and China.

DeepSeek's AI assistant became the number one downloaded free app on Apple's App Store Monday, propelled by curiosity about the ChatGPT competitor.

Part of what is worrying some US tech industry observers is the idea that the Chinese startup has caught up with the American companies at the forefront of generative AI at a fraction of the cost.

If true, that would call into question the huge amount of money US tech companies say they plan to spend on the technology.

But hype and misconceptions about DeepSeek's technological advancements also sowed confusion.

Here's what you need to know.

What is DeepSeek?

The startup was founded in 2023 in Hangzhou, China and released its first AI large language model later that year.

Its CEO Liang Wenfeng previously co-founded one of China's top hedge funds, High-Flyer, which focuses on AI-driven quantitative trading.

DeepSeek began attracting more attention in the AI industry last month when it released a new AI model that it boasted was on par with similar models from US companies such as ChatGPT maker OpenAI, and was more cost effective.

The chatbot became more widely accessible when it appeared on Apple and Google app stores this year.

But it was a follow-up research paper published last week — on the same day as President Donald Trump's inauguration — that set in motion the panic that followed.

That paper was about another DeepSeek AI model called R1 that showed advanced "reasoning" skills — such as the ability to rethink its approach to a maths problem — and was significantly cheaper than a similar model sold by OpenAI called o1.

"What their economics look like, I have no idea," Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon, said.

"But I think the price points freaked people out."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-28/deepseek-ai-stocks-what-are-they-nasdaq-index/104865820

‘Enticing violence’: Man asked to leave popular Melbourne pub over MAGA hat

A popular Melbourne pub has drawn backlash after threatening to boot a customer unless he took off his red MAGA hat on Australia Day.

Angelo Notta, 45, a regular patron of Captain Baxter Bar and Restaurant, visited the beachfront venue about 5.30pm on Australia Day to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

But some 10 minutes after sitting down at a table, Mr Notta was asked by the venue manager to remove the red Donald Trump cap – which he claims he had previously worn to the venue on five separate occasions.

“I was just told to remove the hat because it was enticing political violence,” he told Melbourne’s 3AW radio station.

“I spend a lot of money there on food and drink, and this is the way they treat a regular patron?”

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/restaurants-bars/enticing-violence-man-asked-to-leave-popular-melbourne-pub-over-maga-hat/news-story/a60939a1e5d9df6576eed4b2e4446f58

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@pmarca

Mocks BlackRock CEO Larry Fink for Backtracking on ESG After Leading the Charge

"The other funny one is BlackRock. I don’t know him, but I’ve watched for a long time. Larry Fink, who’s the CEO of BlackRock, was the first in as a major investment CEO on like every dumb social trend and rule set. Like every, all right, I’m going for it, every retarded, every retarded thing you can imagine—every ESG and every possible saddling companies with every aspect of just these crazed ideological positions.

He was coming in, he literally had aggregated together trillions of dollars of shareholdings that were his customers’ rights, and he seized their voting control of their shares and was using it to force all these companies to do all this crazy ideological stuff. He was like the tycoon of all this stuff in corporate America.

He in the last year has been like backpedaling from that stuff as fast as he possibly can. I saw just an example last week: he pulled out of whatever the Corporate Net Zero Alliance is, pulled out of the crazy energy stuff.

He’s backing away as fast as he can. He’s doing—remember the Richard Pryor backwards walk? Richard Pryor had this way where he could back out of a room while looking like he was walking forward. And so, even they’re doing that."

https://x.com/i/status/1883689275687830016

>>22448115

‘LA Dank DMV’ Crew Leader Sentenced for Sophisticated High-Grade Marijuana Distribution Conspiracy

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/la-dank-dmv-crew-leader-sentenced-sophisticated-high-grade-marijuana-distribution