DeepSeek says it will expand hiring across teams as competition grows

In short: DeepSeek says it is launching a major hiring drive to expand departments and turn more of its AI research into products.

What happened

DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company, said it has started a recruitment drive to “expand every department.” It said many teams are expected to double in size.

Job listings suggest DeepSeek is hiring beyond research roles and into more product-focused work. Openings include AI product managers and data product managers, including people with experience in areas like law, medicine, and languages. This points to plans for more industry-specific tools, rather than only general chatbots.

The company is also hiring many infrastructure engineers. These are the people who build and run the computer systems needed to train and operate AI models. Training is like teaching a system with lots of examples, and “inference” is the moment it answers a question (like a calculator producing an answer after you press equals).

DeepSeek is doing this as competition heats up in China. Rivals such as Zhipu AI and Moonshot AI have released open-source models that developers can quickly adopt. DeepSeek’s consumer chatbot has also faced complaints about slow responses, outages, and “hallucinations,” which is when an AI system confidently makes up incorrect information.

Why it matters

This hiring push shows how fast AI companies are shifting from research to everyday services that businesses and consumers can use. It also highlights a growing talent fight in China, where larger companies such as Xiaomi and ByteDance have reportedly hired away staff. If DeepSeek succeeds in building more reliable products and stronger infrastructure, people may see more AI tools aimed at specific jobs, like reviewing legal documents or supporting medical work.

Source: Financial Times