<h1>AI competition: foreign low-cost models prompt call for renewed focus to maintain national technological leadership.</h1> The article reports that DeepSeek claims parity with leading US AI models at lower cost, and that this development should prompt domestic technology firms to be laser-focused on competing to retain technological leadership, leveraging national scientific talent. It notes cautious optimism about cheaper methods if outcomes match existing solutions and records expectations that competing US AI offerings may emerge shortly, framing the release as a strategic market prompt for accelerated domestic innovation.