Shares of Japanese chip-related firms were feeling the heat on Monday. Today’s slump comes as Chinese AI startup DeepSeek gained traction with its updated AI model, raising fears about potential challenges to US technological dominance.

US stocks opened lower after Chinese startup DeepSeek's AI model shows AI can be built cheaply. That sparked fears AI spending will stall.

DeepSeek released an open-source artificial intelligence model in December after saying that it took only two months and less than $6 million to create it.

The arrival of China’s DeepSeek is fanning concerns among investors over whether US tech stocks deserve their rich valuations.

KEY TAKEAWAYS A slew of artificial intelligence stocks, including chip maker Nvidia, are tumbling in premarket trading Monday after Chinese startup DeepSeek released a cutting-edge AI model that runs on less-advanced chips and at a lower cost than U.