DeepSeek limits model access due to overwhelming server demand

DeepSeek recent explosion in popularity continues to be a problem for the AI startup. In a notification spotted by Bloomberg, the company said it was temporarily limiting access to its application programming interface service in response to a shortage of server capacity. 

"Due to current server resource constraints, we have temporarily suspended API service recharges to prevent any potential impact on your operations," DeepSeek said. "Existing balances can still be used for calls. We appreciate your understanding!" Separately, DeepSeek announced pricing for its chat model would increase to $0.27 per million input tokens and $1.10 per million output tokens starting February 8.

DeepSeek has been dealing with overwhelming demand for its services since the debut of its R1 model on January 20. The company's emergence as a leading premier AI provider, and the fact it was able to train R1 for a fraction of the price it cost OpenAI to develop its o1 reasoning model, sent US investors into a panic. Major tech stocks, including NVIDIA, shed $1 trillion of value the Monday after DeepSeek's chatbot hit the top of the App Store. Since then, OpenAI has released its o3-mini model and Deep Research feature for ChatGPT.