By Aditya Soni and Deborah Mary Sophia (Reuters) -Days after Chinese upstart DeepSeek revealed a breakthrough in cheap AI computing that shook the U.S. technology industry, the chief executives of Microsoft and Meta defended massive spending that they said was key to staying competitive in the new field.

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's model led to increased scrutiny on Microsoft's AI spending.

Chinese startup DeepSeek claims to offer competitive AI models at lower costs, raising doubts about U.S. tech giants' investments in AI. Microsoft and Meta defend their significant spending, highlighting its importance for long-term strategic advantage amidst increasing demand for AI solutions.

Microsoft has brought one of DeepSeek's models to its cloud, and says that 'distilled' versions of the model will come to Copilot+ PCs soon.

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella had some kind words for DeepSeek, the Chinese artificial intelligence startup that roiled his company’s shares earlier this week.