DeepSeek, the Chinese AI firm challenging America's dominance in artificial intelligence, prioritizes achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) over profits, according to a leaked transcript of a meeting between CEO Liang Wenfeng and investors. The $52 billion company views consumer products and APIs as instruments toward AGI, a machine whose cognitive capabilities match or exceed humans across intellectual tasks. Wenfeng described a dual management system: one top-down, the other bottom-up, where "everyone is free to pursue what they want to work on," with "no KPIs." He added that the vision isn't written down, no one works overtime, and there are no pre-defined assignments. "Research requires a relaxed environment. If people are under constant pressure, genuine research becomes impossible," Wenfeng said, contrasting with hustle culture. He noted, "Vision is reflected in how you act, not what you say." The 41-year-old founder also acknowledged competitive pressures, stating, "Right now, there are simply too many companies in China building foundation models. There are probably only three major players in the United States, whereas China has far too many." The Hangzhou, China-based company's culture contrasts sharply with other frontier developers like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, which face pressure toward revenue generation.