DeepSeek V4.1-Flash Offers 70% Cheaper Pricing, Outperforms Opus 5

DeepSeek has launched its V4.1-Flash model with pricing that is 70% cheaper and reportedly beats Claude Opus 5 in performance. This release puts pressure on Western AI labs like Google and OpenAI to match pricing for comparable tiers. The model's MIT license is expected to increase enterprise interest in self-hosting, though GPU infrastructure remains a barrier.