DeepSeek is expected to unveil its V4 AI model in February, with strong coding capabilities that could reshape how open source developers handle large and complex software projects—if access proves open or affordable.
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is expected to launch its next-generation artificial intelligence model, V4, in mid-February, according to a report by The Information citing people familiar with the matter.
The V4 model is designed with strong coding capabilities, positioning it squarely for software development and programming use cases. Internal tests conducted by DeepSeek employees reportedly indicate that V4 could outperform rival models, including Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s GPT series, specifically in coding-related tasks.
One of the key advances highlighted in the report is V4’s ability to handle and process extremely long coding prompts. This capability could prove particularly valuable for developers working on large-scale or complex software projects, including extensive codebases and multi-layered frameworks commonly seen in collaborative development environments.
While the report does not state whether DeepSeek V4 will be released as an open-source model, its emphasis on coding performance, long-context handling, and cost efficiency makes it highly relevant to open-source developer ecosystems. Such capabilities align with the needs of contributors involved in code review, refactoring, debugging, and collaborative software development.
Reuters said it was unable to independently verify the report, and DeepSeek did not respond to a request for comment.
Headquartered in Hangzhou, DeepSeek has emerged as a key player in China’s push to build a domestic AI ecosystem and strengthen the local semiconductor and chip sector. The company gained international attention after Silicon Valley executives praised its earlier models, DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1. Reuters has previously reported that DeepSeek claimed to have built a low-cost rival to ChatGPT, although the company has also faced scrutiny in some countries over security and privacy practices.
