Stocks of global tech giants Nvidia Corp and ASML Holding NV fell after growing buzz around Chinese startup DeepSeek’s latest AI model. It is reportedly capable of delivering comparable performance to chatbots such as ChatGPT despite running on less advanced chips.
Nvidia and ASML have been at the forefront of the AI stock boom seen over the past few months. Nvidia designs semiconductors for use in AI, whereas ASML develops machines needed to produce high-end chips. The rally in Nvidia’s stock pushed its way for its 61-year-old co-founder and chief executive Jensen Huang to the list of the 10 richest individuals globally.
Shares of Nvidia Corp traded 11.54 per cent lower at $126.16 apiece on NASDAQ compared to the previous close of $147.22. ASML Holdings NV slipped 11.7 per cent on the Amsterdam trading to a low of €618.5 on Monday compared to the previous close of €700.70.
On Monday, DeepSeek’s AI assistant overtook rival ChatGPT to become the top-rated free application available on Apple’s App Store in the United States.
DeepSeek researchers wrote in a paper last month that the DeepSeek-V3 used Nvidia’s H800 chips for training, spending less than $6 million.
AI models from ChatGPT to DeepSeek require advanced chips to power their training. The US administration, since 2021, has worked to expand the scope of bans designed to stop these chips from being exported to China and used to train Chinese firms’ AI models.
The move led to many Chinese tech companies releasing their own AI models, but most failed to garner any attention. However, the DeepSeek AI model is said to have the potential to match ChatGPT and other options in the US tech industry.
DeepSeek’s AI assistant is powered by the company’s V3 model, which, according to its creators “tops the leaderboard among open-source models and rivals the most advanced closed-source models globally”
Not much is known about the company behind DeepSeek, a Hangzhou-based startup founded in 2023 when search engine giant Baidu released the first Chinese AI large-language model.
