# China’s DeepSeek beefs up agentic AI with ‘harness’ tests as V4 model jolts Silicon Valley > Source: > Published: 2026-08-03 11:00:07+00:00 # China’s DeepSeek beefs up agentic AI with ‘harness’ tests as V4 model jolts Silicon Valley Hangzhou-based firm is recruiting developers to test software that turns language models into autonomous agents, escalating price war with US rivals [V4 Flash model](https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3351471/openclaw-adds-deepseek-v4-models-tech-world-assesses-huawei-tie?module=inline&pgtype=article)sends another cost-efficiency shock wave through Silicon Valley. The Hangzhou-based firm was looking for open-source project developers to join beta testing for DeepSeek Harness, according to a social media post on Saturday by Cui Tianyi, who leads the harness team. [Claude Code](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3359901/anthropic-hits-back-after-china-warns-claude-code-backdoor-risks?module=inline&pgtype=article). [DeepSeek hired Cui](https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3354113/deepseek-recruits-former-jane-street-engineer-catch-ai-agents-revenue-race?module=inline&pgtype=article)in March to join its newly formed harness group. He was previously a Hong Kong-based co-founder of quantitative trading firm TSY Capital and a software engineer at quantitative trading firm Jane Street. Cui did not disclose a release date for DeepSeek Harness. However, he noted on social media in June that while the team held ambitious goals, it remained severely short-staffed and was recruiting across multiple channels. The agent push comes as CEO and co-founder Liang Wenfeng doubles down on cheap, highly capable models as a core strategy towards artificial general intelligence (AGI), a coveted milestone where AI systems match or surpass human cognitive abilities.