Employees move a semiconductor tester onto the assembly line of Advantest Corp’s factory in Ura, Japan on August 10, 2012.
Tomohiro Ohsumi | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Japan’s chip-related stocks fell on Monday as Chinese AI firm Deepseek raised concerns about a potential challenge to America’s global leadership in artificial intelligence that threatens Asian tech companies part of the U.S.-dependent AI value chain.
Semiconductor testing equipment supplier shares AdvantagesWhich matters Nvidia Among its clients, 7.99% decreased. Tokyo Electron fell 3.94%, while Renesas Electronics fell 0.4%.
SoftBank Group, which owns the chip designer arm, slid 5.4% after trading last week on CEO Masayoshi’s plans to invest $100 billion in the U.S.
“Japan chip stocks are selling off sharply on DeepSec concerns and we are seeing a turnover from growth to value names,” Andrew Jackson, head of equity strategy at ORTUS Advisors, told CNBC via email.
Data center-related stocks that have been boosted by spending on top technology infrastructure will also be hit, he added.
Stocks of wire and cable companies Furukawa and Fujikura It also decreased 9.8% and 8.16%, respectively.
Deepseek launched a free, highly sourced version of the language in late December, claiming to have been developed in Only two months At a cost of less than $6 million. Last week, the lab launched R1, a thinking model that outperformed Openai’s latest O1 in several third-party tests.
New developments have raised concerns about the large sums of money big tech companies are investing in AI models and data centres. DeBsec also had to confront tough semiconductor restrictions placed on China by the US government, limiting access to advanced chips.
“Although it remains to be seen whether Deepseek will prove to be a viable and cheaper alternative in the long term, initial concerns center on whether US pricing power for modified technology is threatened and if massive AI spending needs to be reassessed,” he said. IG market expert Junrong Yeap in a note.
Deepsec It became the most downloaded free app on iPhone from Apple.
The decline in Japanese chip stocks comes as the Nasdaq futures fell 1.62% during trading hours in Asia.
“Judging by this move in the future Nasdaq, we may be in for a rough ride tonight in the US as well,” Jackson added.
“With a model this cheap, many new products and experiences can now emerge in an attempt to win the hearts and minds of the global population,” said Chamath Palhapitiya, an American-Canadian venture capitalist and CEO of Social Capital. He said on social media platform Xwhich sees stock market fluctuations as capital markets will seek to reprice the values of “Magnificent 7” companies.
“Nvidia is the most vulnerable for obvious reasons,” he said.
