$1 TN MARKET MELTDOWN STUNS INVESTORS Chinese AI DeepSeek disrupts global tech

A Chinese artificial intelligence startup has sent shockwaves through global technology markets, causing one of the largest single-day market value losses in history and raising questions about the massive investments in AI by US tech giants.

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DeepSeek, a Hangzhou-based research lab, has emerged as a significant disruptor in the AI industry with its latest offerings: DeepSeek V3, a 671 billion parameter ‘mixture of experts’ model, and DeepSeek R1, an advanced reasoning model. The startup’s AI model quickly rose to become the most downloaded app on Apple’s US App Store, marking a notable achievement for a Chinese-developed chatbot in the American market.

The impact of DeepSeek’s emergence was immediately felt in the stock market. Nvidia, the leading AI chip manufacturer, experienced a historic $593 billion loss in market value on Monday—the largest single-day loss for any company. The broader technology sector also suffered, with AI-linked companies collectively losing more than $1 trillion in market value. The Nasdaq 100 fell 3 per cent, its steepest decline in six weeks, while the Philadelphia semiconductor index recorded its largest drop since March 2020.

However, on Tuesday, US markets stabilised following a wipeout a day earlier. Many of Monday’s big losers clawed back some of their losses, including Nvidia, which rose 3.4 per cent in premarket after tumbling nearly 17 per cent a day earlier.

The world’s 500 richest individuals collectively lost $108 billion on Monday. The selloff sent major indices plunging, with the Nasdaq Composite Index dropping 3.1 per cent and the S&P 500 falling 1.5 per cent, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Tech billionaires, particularly those tied to artificial intelligence, bore the brunt of the losses, accounting for 85 per cent of the decline. Nvidia Corp co-founder Jensen Huang’s fortune fell by $20.1 billion, a 20 per cent drop, while Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison saw a larger absolute loss of $22.6 billion, representing 12 per cent of his net worth. Michael Dell of Dell Inc lost $13 billion, while Binance Holdings Ltd co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao saw a $12.1 billion decrease.