Chinese tech startup DeepSeek released a model of its AI service that seemingly is on-par with U.S.-based competitors like ChatGPT, but required far-less computing power.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite closed down nearly 3% on Monday, with shares of AI-focused chipmaker Nvidia plunging 17% and shaving nearly $590 billion from the company’s market cap.

Chinese startup DeepSeek’s app has climbed to the top of the iPhone charts as its newest AI assistant showed competitive performance against rivals like OpenAI and Meta.

Silicon Valley and Washington leaders said the app shows China can challenge the U.S. The Nasdaq lost 3 percent and chipmaker Nvidia shed $589 billion in market capitalization.

Global chip stocks slumped Monday on DeepSeek revealing it had developed AI models that nearly matched American rivals despite using inferior chips.

The drama started around January 20 when Chinese AI startup DeepSeek announced R1, a new simulated reasoning (SR) model that it claimed could match OpenAI's o1 in reasoning benchmarks. Like o1, R1 is trained to work through a simulated chain of thought process before providing an answer,

Technology stocks led gains in Asia-Pacific markets on Wednesday, tracking advances on Wall Street as investor angst ebbed over the emergence of a low-cost Chinese AI model that some see rivalling U.S.

Tech stocks plunged Monday morning, as fears mounted that Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek leapfrogged U.S. dominance in AI development.

One name that most people outside China likely didn’t know before Monday has sent shockwaves across the tech industry, pushing some of the sector’s leading stocks down. The co