I’m sure you’ve seen the buzz around DeepSeek R1. It’s an absolutely incredible open-source AI model with reasoning skills that are blowing people’s minds. The problem? Using it on the official website means your data goes to servers in China under a pretty loose privacy policy. Not ideal.
But I just found a fantastic video from this AI professional that shows you how to run it locally on your own computer in just a few minutes. This is a game-changer because it means total privacy: nothing ever leaves your machine.
This innovator makes it look so simple using a free tool called LM Studio.
Here’s the quick guide the creator shared:
- ⚙️ Step 1: Get LM Studio
First, head over to the LM Studio website and download the version for your computer (Mac, Windows, or Linux). - 🔍 Step 2: Find DeepSeek
Once you open the app, go to the “Discover” tab and just type “deep seek” into the search bar. - ✅ Step 3: Pick a Model
You’ll see a bunch of options. These are different versions of the model, from smaller ones that can run on almost any computer to the massive ones for serious hardware. What’s awesome, as the YouTuber points out, is that LM Studio shows a green checkmark if your computer can likely handle a specific version. Just pick one and hit download. - 🚀 Step 4: Start Chatting
After it’s downloaded, you just select the model you downloaded from the dropdown at the top and start prompting away. That’s it! You’re running a top-tier AI completely privately.
The creator ran the same logic puzzle on both the web version and the local one, and both got the correct answer. I think it’s so cool that we can now access this kind of power without any privacy trade-offs.
For the full deep-dive and to see the creator walk through every step, make sure to watch the original video!