(Bloomberg) -- International Business Machines Corp. Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna said a reckoning over the costs of developing artificial intelligence models following the rise of Chinese startup DeepSeek will help fuel adoption of the technology.

“We will find that the usage will explode as costs come down,” Krishna said during an interview with Bloomberg Television at the World Government Summit in Dubai. “I think it is a validation — we have been on the point that you do not have to spend so much money to get these models.”

Last month, the Chinese company DeepSeek released an AI model that it said cost significantly less to train than those from US counterparts. The launch led investors to question the level of capital expenditure that big tech firms have been making in the technology. Analysts anticipate that lower AI model costs could help software companies such as IBM offer these features more widely.

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The firm has worked to transform itself from a conventional computer company into one focused on high-growth software and services. It has booked about $5 billion in generative AI-related business since mid-2023, mostly in consulting.

--With assistance from Joumanna Bercetche.

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