It’s definitely a point of contention in the tech world right now. While DeepSeek is touting that low $5.6 million training cost, it seems like it might not be the whole story. Some news website publish article and  mentions that a research firm called SemiAnalysis estimates DeepSeek actually spent around $1.6 billion on hardware. That’s a HUGE difference!
It’s possible that the $5.6 million figure only refers to a specific part of the training process, or maybe DeepSeek has a different way of calculating those costs. But honestly, the fact that there’s such a massive discrepancy raises some serious doubts about whether their claims are entirely accurate. So, while it’s possible they found some super-efficient method, it seems more likely that there’s more to the story than what they’re letting on.