In every industry, a moment comes when an outsider challenges the status quo so effectively that it forces incumbents to rethink their foundations. That moment has arrived for AI with DeepSeek, the Chinese startup that has upended expectations by delivering a high-performing AI model at a fraction of the cost.

At first glance, DeepSeek’s breakthrough seems to reinforce the idea that AI model quality and cost-efficiency define success. But that’s only part of the picture. The real battle in AI isn’t about having the best model. It’s about being the tool users reach for without thinking. DeepSeek faced a far bigger challenge than OpenAI, Google, and Meta in that battle.

DeepSeek’s rise mirrors the disruption Southwest Airlines brought to the airline industry. Just as Southwest redefined air travel around affordability and efficiency, DeepSeek is pushing AI toward lower-cost, open-source accessibility. But Southwest didn’t win on price alone. It won by creating a new behaviour around air travel. If DeepSeek is to sustain its success, it must do the same for AI.

This article isn’t just about DeepSeek’s disruption — it’s about what positioning truly means in AI today and how the companies that own the interface, not the model, will define the future.

I. The Positioning Battle in AI: What DeepSeek Got Right

At its core, positioning is about owning a single idea in the minds of your audience. DeepSeek’s positioning can be summarized as: “Efficient AI”

This position challenges long-standing assumptions in AI:

• Cost-Efficiency as a Differentiator: DeepSeek trained its flagship model for just $6 million, while competitors reportedly spend hundreds of millions.
• Open-Source as a Market Disruptor: While OpenAI, Google, and Meta keep key innovations proprietary, DeepSeek gives its models away for free, inviting mass adoption.
• Resourcefulness Over Expensive Hardware: Despite relying on Nvidia’s less powerful H800 chips (restricted under U.S. export controls), DeepSeek proved that efficient engineering beats brute force spending.

This is the Southwest Airlines playbook in AI.
Just as Southwest eliminated first-class seating, standardized aircraft fleets, and optimized turnaround times, DeepSeek is optimizing AI efficiency, democratizing access, and removing barriers to adoption. But here’s the catch: being cheaper and more open is not a long-term moat.

II. The Commoditization Problem: DeepSeek’s Looming Threat

Disrupting an industry by lowering costs is a great opening move but not a lasting advantage.

• DeepSeek has made AI cheaper, but so will the next competitor.
• The LLM race is accelerating. Every two weeks, a breakthrough emerges.
• Big incumbents aren’t standing still. They’re moving up the stack.

This is exactly what happened with cloud computing. First, everyone fought to offer cheaper cloud infrastructure (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure), but today, the real money is in software and platforms that run on top of it.

DeepSeek may have temporarily redefined AI economics, but OpenAI, Google, and Meta are already shifting their focus from model quality to owning how people interact with AI.

The AI Positioning War: Models vs. Interface

Owning the LLM is not the real game. The real game is being the tool people reach for instinctively.

III. The Interface Moat: Why AI Behavior, Not AI Models, Will Win

DeepSeek’s real challenge isn’t how good its model is. It’s how many people use it as their default AI tool.

ChatGPT didn’t win because it had the best model. It won because it was dead simple to use and became the default AI interface.

• The first company to own daily AI interactions wins.
• Models will change. User habits won’t.
• Frontier AI models are becoming commodities. But interface lock-in is forever.

Southwest Airlines Parallel:

• Southwest didn’t just compete on price. It trained people to think of air travel as convenient and accessible.
• ChatGPT trained people to think of AI as something you chat with, not just an API.
• DeepSeek needs to train users to engage with AI in a way that creates habit formation.

How DeepSeek Can Win the Positioning War

1. Move Beyond Models: Develop a sticky user experience around its AI that makes switching inconvenient. (Put your Slack hat on, maybe?)
2. Integrate with Daily Workflows: Instead of being “just another LLM,” DeepSeek should embed into existing tools and interfaces.
3. Build an AI Ecosystem: Owning open-source models is a start, but DeepSeek must turn developer adoption into an interface monopoly.
4. Leverage AI UX as a Differentiator: The real AI wars will be fought on user experience, not just raw model power.

IV. The Future of ‘AI’ Positioning: What Comes Next?

DeepSeek has proved that LLMs can be made cheaper, but it still has to prove it can create a habit-forming AI product.

Three Takeaways

LLMs are infrastructure
The real money is in the interface. Just like cloud computing became a commodity, AI models will follow. The real moat is how users interact with AI.

AI winners will be defined by daily habit formation.
ChatGPT and Claude aren’t just AI models. They are interfaces that people use without thinking. If DeepSeek remains just a model provider, it will be replaced by the next “cheap, efficient” AI.

Technology advantages are temporary. User behaviour lock-in is permanent. AI companies need to think like platform businesses, not just research labs. The best AI model doesn’t always win—the AI tool that users default to will.

Final Thought: The Real AI War Is Just Beginning

DeepSeek has made an impressive first move but the game isn’t about having the cheapest, most efficient AI model. The real war in AI isn’t about intelligence. It’s about interface dominance. Because in AI, a technological advantage is temporary. But interface lock-in is forever.