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. Nasdaq 100 futures were down 2.4% and S&P 500 futures by the Asia afternoon, and shares in Nvidia supplier Advantest fell 8.5% in Tokyo. Startup DeepSeek has rolled out a free assistant it says uses lower-cost chips and less data, seemingly challenging a widespread bet in financial markets that AI will drive demand along a supply chain from chipmakers to data centres.
