DeepSeek has set up an official social media account and posted job listings for a new team focused on helping develop artificial intelligence (AI) agents that can take on services like Anthropic PBC’s popular Claude Code.
The Hangzhou-based company has created an account for its "DeepSeek Harness Team” on WeChat, China’s super-app operated by Tencent Holdings Ltd. The account belongs to a Beijing-based entity, which Chinese corporate database Qichacha identifies as controlled by DeepSeek, and has been verified by Tencent.
The term harness refers to the software scaffolding that wraps around a large language model that enables AI agents to manage more complex tasks. Anthropic and other developers have designed harnesses to make their software better at streamlining coding and other work.
DeepSeek is also recruiting several roles for its harness team. In one job posting, the company said it is trying to turn its models into cutting-edge agentic products. Separately, the AI startup updated its flagship V4 Pro model with better agentic capabilities late Wednesday (Aug 12), according to an announcement in an official company chat channel on WeChat.
Chinese firms are locked in a heated rivalry with US developers to build more advanced – and affordable – artificial intelligence tools. While OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot helped kick off the global AI race, many companies have since focused more on the lucrative emerging market for AI agents that can help automate work for business professionals.
DeepSeek did not respond to a request for comment after normal business hours. Several Chinese news outlets, including Jiemian, noted earlier on Aug 12 that the company had created the new WeChat account. – Bloomberg
