☕️ What is DeepSeek?

Here is today’s riddle: Some months have 31 days; others have 30. How many have 28 days?

Answer is in the tidbit!

"Innocently posted pictures have been taken, shared and altered by those who have less-than-innocent intentions... We are urging families to be proactive with keeping their child's information safe as the 2025 school year gets under way [such as] blurring or obscuring the logo of your child's school on their uniform or in the background of an image".
The Australian Federal Police in a statement on safe image sharing as the 2025 school year commences.

226 miles (365km)
The length Ultrarunner Sophie Power ran in 48 hours on a treadmill. She beat the previous record of 211.49 miles (340 km).

1595
William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet" is believed to have been first performed..

2024 was the deadliest year on Australia’s roads in over a decade.

According to the Federal Government, 1,300 people were killed on the road last year.

It’s the fourth year in a row road deaths have increased.

This hasn’t happened since seatbelts were made compulsory in the 1960s.

The Australian Automobile Association (AAA) has called on the Government to investigate “what is going wrong on our roads”.

Single-vehicle crashes were the most common type of fatal accident last year.

NSW, the most populous state, recorded the most fatalities.

The majority of deaths were car drivers (45%) and people on motorbikes (21%).

Men made up 74% of the total deaths.

In 2021, federal, state, and territory governments agreed to a 10-year National Road Safety Strategy.

The strategy’s goals included centralising data, and reaching zero deaths on Australian roads by 2050.

The data released today is the result of this strategy.

In response, the AAA said Australia

is “wildly off-track” in meeting the 2050 goal.

Reporting by Achol Arok.

The release of a new generative AI app called DeepSeek has created uncertainty across global stock markets.

The Chinese app was significantly cheaper to develop than other AI systems.

In the days since its release, DeepSeek has topped Apple’s global App Store charts and been hit by a cyberattack.

Here’s what you need to know about DeepSeek.

DeepSeek was founded by Chinese hedge fund manager Liang Wenfeng in July 2023.

Recently, it has released two AI models: Deepseek V3 and R1 (more on this later).

V3 powers DeepSeek’s AI chatbot, which was released to app stores under the name DeepSeek earlier this month.

According to the company, V3 cost $US5.8 million ($AU9.3m) to develop. In comparison, Meta is expected to spend up to $US65 billion on AI systems this year.

Like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the DeepSeek app is a ‘chatbot’ based on a ‘large language model’. These bots use a large database of online text and images to generate new material.

The DeepSeek app can summarise blocks of text, generate writing based on prompts, and answer user questions based on its interpretation of web search results.

Both DeepSeek and ChatGPT use computer chips produced by U.S-based tech giant Nvidia.

In June 2024, Nvidia became the most valuable company in the world, with a market value of $US3.2 trillion ($AU5.1t).

Its boom in value was due to Nvidia’s range of chips, which are able to handle the complex processing required for AI systems to function.

Liang (DeepSeek’s founder) has reportedly stockpiled thousands of one particularly powerful Nvidia chip. Since then, new U.S. restrictions have blocked the chip from being exported to China.

Last month, DeepSeek announced it had trained one of its new models, V3, using a less powerful Nvidia chip that’s not subject to U.S. restrictions.

It released the V3-powered app DeepSeek to the public this month.

The news that a powerful AI model could run on a cheaper chip contributed to the stock market drop this week.

Nvidia saw the biggest-ever drop in any company’s value on a single day.

The other factor is DeepSeek’s second new product, R1.

As well as releasing the V3-powered DeepSeek app this month, the company released an AI model called R1.

This is a ‘reasoning’ model, which means it’s capable of more complex ‘thinking’ to solve problems, and of showing its ‘thought’ patterns.

OpenAI also has a reasoning model, called OpenAI-o1.

DeepSeek says R1 can outperform its OpenAI competitor and costs less to run. It’s made the model ‘open-source’, which means anyone can use or adapt its code.

The release of V3 and R1 caused global stock markets to drop this week, as investors sold their tech stocks.

DeepSeek said it was subject to “large-scale malicious attacks” in the past 24 hours. It responded by placing a temporary limit on new registrations.

In a post to X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said: “R1 is an impressive model, particularly around what they’re able to deliver for the price... It’s legit invigorating to have a new competitor!”

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

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^{Investing involves risk. Read the relevant disclosure documents before making an investment decision. Promotional terms apply. Visit sharesies.com.au for more information. Image does not represent a real portfolio.}

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🗞️ Also in the Sport Newsletter: running, a random fact and more…

The project, led by Harcourt Technologies and Louth County Council, created three homes, each with three bedrooms. According to the construction firm behind the project, the concrete walls of the homes were printed in 12 days, “with the entire structure completed in 18 days.”

It’s hoped 3D printing will be used as a “faster, more cost-effective housing solutions for low-income residents,” to tackle Europe’s housing crisis.

Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

You’ve probably heard of the FIFA World Cup, but have you ever heard of the Pastry World Cup?

The biennial event (that’s every two years) features the world’s best pastry chefs going head-to-head to create show-stopping desserts.

This year, 18 national teams had nine hours to create and present three desserts that would represent their country: a frozen dessert, a restaurant dessert, and a ‘show chocolate’. Each dish had to represent their country’s culture and heritage.

Team Japan took out first place with a lemon, pear, marigold and chocolate granita in the shape of an Asanoha (hemp) leaf for their restaurant dessert entry. For the frozen dessert, the team offered an apricot treat resembling a spinning top toy.

France and Malaysia took out second and third place, respectively.

Reporting by Rosa Bowden.

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Riddle answer: 12 - all months have at least 28 days.

Global technology stocks have taken a historic hit this week after a Chinese AI company called DeepSeek demonstrated it could build powerful AI systems just as good, if not better, than the current market leaders (like ChatGPT), but for a fraction of the cost. On today's podcast, we break down what you need to know about this new AI company, how the existing tech giants have reacted, and what makes one AI model better than another.