Black & White Path

Mar 21, 2026 · Artificial Intelligence

Japan’s ‘Self‑Developed’ 700B AI Model: A DeepSeek Re‑skin Flop

Rakuten AI 3.0 was billed as Japan’s largest, self‑developed 700‑billion‑parameter model backed by government funds, but a quick look at its Hugging Face config reveals it merely re‑uses DeepSeek V3, prompting a broader critique of the hype, funding motives, and strategic trade‑offs behind the launch.