Chinese AI Startup Baichuan Pivots to Health as Rivalry Heats Up

Chinese artificial intelligence firm Baichuan will refocus its business on medical use, making a strategic shift to survive in an increasingly competitive landscape transformed by DeepSeek’s emergence.

Baichuan will angle its AI models toward helping doctors and researchers on diagnosis and treatment while propelling advances in clinical medicine and epidemiology, founder and Chief Executive Officer Wang Xiaochuan said in an open letter published on the second anniversary of his company.

The pivot underscores how DeepSeek has up-ended the industry since it demonstrated a low-cost but capable model in January. Some industry executives expect a shake-up or consolidation to take place ...