You can now try uncensored DeepSeek R1 via Perplexity (Ps: It's US-hosted)

Perplexity, a popular AI-powered search engine, now hosts the now-surging DeepSeek R1 model.

That means, you can now try out the open-source model on Perplexity’s platforms on iOS, macOS, web, and Android. Unlike the model’s original product from China which won’t allow you to ask about the shady dealings of its government, DeepSeek R1 on Perplexity is rather uncensored and is stored in data servers in the US.

Access to DeepSeek R1 is currently limited to Perplexity Pro subscribers, who also gain access to other AI models. The AI company has also increased the limit from 10 to 25 for Pro users.

Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity’s boss, has been a big fan of the models since launch, despite concerns over data being sent to China or its censorship.

“We’ve shipped many things in Perplexity, but integrating DeepSeek R1 with search is truly a phenomenal experience, seeing the model think out loud like an intelligent person, reading hundreds of sources, with sleek UX,” he posts on X.

The arrival of DeepSeek shocked the US market, so much so that it lost over $1 trillion in the stock market. The Chinese AI company said that its open-source model, which is even faster than OpenAI’s ChatGPT for now, was built with just $6 million and some older Nvidia H100 GPUs.

Both Microsoft and OpenAI are currently investigating DeepSeek’s success, on whether the Chinese company improperly accessed OpenAI’s technology data through its API. The urgency was so high that OpenAI even launched ChatGPT Gov, a special ChatGPT for US government agencies, to maintain “America’s global leadership in AI.”

“All DeepSeek usage in Perplexity is through models hosted in data centers in the USA and Europe. DeepSeek is *open-source*. None of your data goes to China,” Srinivas reassures.