DeepSeek moves V4 into public beta
DeepSeek on July 31, 2026 released a public beta version of its V4 artificial intelligence models, with the V4-Flash API opened up for public testing, according to TechNode and Nikkei Asia. TechNode reported that the V4-Flash API had entered public beta, while Nikkei Asia framed the broader V4 beta release within an intensifying AI price competition among Chinese providers. The V4 line was first previewed in April 2026 in two configurations.
Pricing structure and the Chinese AI price war
Nikkei Asia reported that the V4 beta lands as the AI price war in China heats up. The V4 line splits into a higher-end Pro model and a lighter, cheaper Flash variant. At the April preview, DeepSeek said Pro can cost up to 12 times more than Flash because of "constraints in high-end compute capacity," which limits current Pro availability, and that pricing could fall sharply once Huawei Ascend 950 supernodes are deployed at scale in the second half of 2026. Both versions support a 1-million-token context window, matching the expansion DeepSeek introduced with V3 in February.
Adaptation for Huawei chips
V4 was adapted for Huawei's most advanced Ascend AI chips, a shift from the earlier V3 and R1 models that were trained on Nvidia hardware. A February Reuters report cited in the April factbox said DeepSeek had not shared the new model with U.S. chipmakers for performance tuning, instead granting early access to domestic companies including Huawei. Hours after the April preview release, Huawei said V4 is fully supported on its Ascend 950-based supernode clusters and that its chips were used for part of V4-Flash's training.
Inner Mongolia data center plans
Bloomberg reported on July 30, 2026 that DeepSeek is developing a large-scale AI data center in Inner Mongolia, with plans reaching roughly one gigawatt of capacity, according to coverage carried by Bloomberg.com and Investing.com. The facility points to expanded infrastructure for training and serving DeepSeek's growing model lineup alongside the V4 rollout.
What to watch next
Key near-term signals include any pricing changes once Huawei Ascend 950 supernodes are deployed at scale in the second half of 2026, further details and construction milestones for the Inner Mongolia data center, and the timing of a broader V4-Pro rollout beyond the constrained preview availability.
Share this article
