Nvidia’s shares were down 17%, while an index of semiconductor stocks slid 10% and was on track for its biggest single-day percentage fall since March 2020.
Nvidia was on track to lose roughly US$600 billion in stock market value, the deepest ever one-day loss for a company on Wall Street, according to LSEG data. It was more than double the previous one-day record loss, set by Nvidia last September.
Chinese startup DeepSeek has rolled out a free assistant it says uses cheaper chips and less data, raising questions about investor expectations that AI will drive demand along a supply chain from chipmakers to data centres.
DeepSeek’s AI Assistant on Monday overtook rival ChatGPT to become the top-rated free application available on Apple’s App Store in the US.
Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners in Pittsburgh, said there are still many questions about the DeepSeek model and its impact.
“Today is a drubbing for these stocks, but I don’t necessarily think whatever’s going to happen in the short while here – the next couple of days – is where they are ultimately valued,” she said
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 207.26 points, or 0.47%, to 44,634.55, the S&P 500 lost 114.54 points, or 1.86%, to 5,987.77 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 732.61 points, or 3.67%, to 19,222.53.
Among other big tech-related companies, Microsoft was down 2.5% and Google-parent Alphabet was down 4%, while AI server maker Dell Technologies was down 11.7%.
Data centre operators also tanked, with Digital Realty sliding 10.6%.
The Cboe Volatility Index, known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge”, hit its highest since Dec 20 and was last up at 18.29.
Earnings from some big technology companies are due this week, including from Microsoft.
Financial markets also were digesting news that the US and Colombia pulled back from the brink of a trade war on Sunday after the White House said the South American nation had agreed to accept military aircraft carrying deported migrants.
Investors also are keen to hear from the Federal Reserve, which is widely expected to hold its lending rate steady in its first interest-rate decision of the year due on Wednesday.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.01-to-1 ratio on the NYSE.
On the Nasdaq, 1,676 stocks rose and 2,727 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.63-to-1 ratio.