Nasdaq futures slumped and technology shares slid in Japan on Monday as surging popularity of a Chinese discount artificial intelligence model wobbled investors' faith in the profitability of AI and the sector's voracious demand for high-tech chips.

DeepSeek, the Chinese artificial-intelligence chatbot, has shocked Silicon Valley with its cost-effective approach—and rattled global tech investors. Shares in Japan’s [SoftBank Group](

DeepSeek, founded by quant fund chief Liang Wenfeng released its latest AI model just last week and is now seen as a competitor to OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc

Nasdaq futures fall as DeepSeek's AI challenges tech sector, rattling investor confidence in chips and profitability. Nvidia, SoftBank shares drop.

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son is shifting his focus away from investments in China and toward the US, as seen with his involvement with President Donald Trump and the recently announced Stargate.

“The selloff in Japan and U.S. tech names should not be a surprise given high valuations based on P/E and P/B ratios. With the current rate of P/E priced for some U.S. and Japan tech names, the market is expecting future earnings to continue to justify the high prices of these tech names. That is definitely a high expectation to meet.”

In international markets, chipmaking and electrification companies saw pressure on the fears over the DeepSeek AI service. SoftBank -- the company that said it would fund up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure as well as the main shareholder of microchip designer ARM -- saw its stock dive 8%.

Investors will be looking out for Malaysia’s central bank policy meeting today, where it’s expected to keep its policy rate steady at 3%.

President Donald Trump has announced the Stargate initiative, a significant collaboration involving OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, with an initial investment of $100 billion. The project aims to enhance the U.

ASML Holding NV shares plunged early Monday as Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek appeared to provide comparable performance to Western chatbots at a fraction of the price. Nvidia shares fell about 9% in premarket trading,

DeepSeek topped the Apple AppStore chart and sparked fears the Chinese company is quickly catching up with OpenAI's ChatGPT while costing far less.

Chinese firm DeepSeek's artificial intelligence chatbot has soared to the top of the Apple Store's download charts, stunning industry insiders and analysts with its ability to match its US competitors.