President Trump praises Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek, sparking tech stock selloff

U.S. President Donald Trump commended the launch of DeepSeek, a new AI chatbot developed by a Chinese company, during a Republican policy retreat in Florida. His remarks came as the chatbot’s release caused turmoil in the technology sector, leading to significant declines in major tech stocks on Monday.

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Trump’s Remarks on DeepSeek

Speaking about DeepSeek’s capabilities, President Trump expressed optimism, stating:
“I view that as a positive, as an asset. So, I really think if it’s, if it’s fact and if it’s true—and nobody really knows if it is—but I view that as a positive because you’ll be doing that too. So you won’t be spending as much, and you’ll get the same result, hopefully.”

DeepSeek claims its chatbot operates with lower data consumption and costs while delivering the same quality as its U.S. counterparts.

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Impact on Tech Markets

The announcement sent shockwaves through the tech industry:

• Nvidia, the U.S. AI chipmaking giant, saw its stock plummet by 11.2%, losing a sixth of its market value.
• Other tech heavyweights, including Google and Microsoft, also experienced losses.
• The Nasdaq composite fell 2.7%, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.6% in early trading.

DeepSeek’s chatbot overtook OpenAI’s ChatGPT in downloads on the Apple App Store by Monday, adding to investor concerns about U.S. dominance in the AI sector.

President Trump urged the U.S. tech industry to take notice of the competition:
“The release of the DeepSeek AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industry in that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win.”

The comments reflect growing geopolitical and economic competition in the AI sector, as Chinese advancements challenge the dominance of U.S. technology firms.

 

Amnewsworld will continue to monitor the developments in this rapidly evolving AI race.