
DeepSeek cuts Flash API prices by up to 60% as AI price war heats up
DeepSeek’s latest strategy combines aggressive pricing to win users and peak/off-peak rates to encourage better use of computing capacity.

DeepSeek’s latest strategy combines aggressive pricing to win users and peak/off-peak rates to encourage better use of computing capacity.

Tmall is turning those services into standardized retail products that can be bought alongside more familiar digital goods.

The event will also bring together Hangzhou’s “Six Little Dragons” and the “New Eight Stallions” for the first time.

Under the revised rules, effective from midnight Beijing time on Aug. 23, DeepSeek no longer distinguishes between peak and off-peak hours on weekends.

Pro output tokens are therefore three times more expensive, while cache-miss input is also priced at three times the Flash rate.

DeepSeek’s image understanding feature began a phased rollout in late April 2026 and was made widely available to users on May 9, according to the company.

The new unit signals a strategic shift for Alibaba away from competing primarily on standalone large language models toward building a broader AI operating framework.