Stock Market Today: Nvidia Stock Sinks in AI Rout Sparked by China's DeepSeek

DeepSeek has sparked a deep freakout.

The Chinese artificial-intelligence upstart has trained high-performing AI models cheaply—and without the most advanced gear provided by Nvidia and others. That has pulled the rug from under global companies riding the AI wave, including chip makers, infrastructure suppliers and power stocks, as investors question the outlook for AI spending.

Nvidia fell more than 10%, weighing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which sank 2.7% in morning trading. Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet were all down between 1.5% and 3.5%. Bonds climbed and bitcoin sank as investors sought safety.

The rethink comes as a busy week for earnings gets under way—with some of the biggest spenders on AI, such as Microsoft and Meta, among the companies due to update investors.

In recent trading:

Stock indexes sank. The Nasdaq led declines among the major indexes. The S&P 500 was down 1.6% after hitting a record last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged lower.

Treasurys gained, pushing up prices and sending the 10-year yield below 4.56%.

The dollar fell against the yen and the Swiss franc, currencies usually seen as havens for investors.

Global stocks were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was among the best-performing major indexes. In Europe, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 edged lower.

Tariff worries have driven the dollar higher, but President Trump late Sunday backed off levy and sanctions threats made against Colombia. That helped push futures for Arabica coffee—of which Colombia is a major exporter—to a record high.

Bitcoin fell, briefly dipping below the $100,000 mark it breached after Trump’s election, before regaining a little ground.