NetEase Youdao Dictionary has released its 2025 Top Words, with "DeepSeek" topping the list with a total of 8.67 million searches throughout the year, becoming the first word in the platform's history that originated from a domestic AI large model.

The search curve shows that user interest was low at the beginning of the year, but quickly surged after the release of the DeepSeek-R1 inference model in February, with multiple technical breakthroughs throughout the year driving new peaks in queries. College students and professionals make up the main growth, and the proportion of users who further browse entries related to "large models" and "AI capabilities" after looking up words has significantly increased, forming a complete learning path of "look up words - learn concepts - use models."

DeepSeek

Image source note: The image is AI-generated, and the image licensing service provider is Midjourney.

On social platforms, netizens have nicknamed DeepSeek as "Mr. D," used for scenarios such as copywriting and weekly report polishing, promoting it from a professional term into a popular productivity tool. Linguists pointed out that the Chinese interpretation of "Deep Seek" accurately reflects the collective impression of China's AI industry's independent innovation in 2025. The top word has shifted from emotional expression to technological exploration, reflecting the public's proactive embrace of cutting-edge technology.

The person in charge of Youdao Dictionary stated that the upgraded AI dictionary app can return context-based explanations of technical terms faster, further amplifying the effect of hot words; in the future, the platform will continue to track new AI words and provide real-time language learning support for over 1 billion users.