US chip giant Nvidia suffered a record sweep on Monday after Chinese startup Deepseek upended the tech sector.
Deepseek said it built a new AI model in just two months for less than $6 million, a fraction of the training costs of its U.S. rivals.
Nvidia shares plunged as much as 18% as the market factored in the possibility that the world's largest supplier of AI chips could face less demand as its models become more efficient.
The selloff erased $560 billion from Nvidia's market capitalization, according to Bloomberg. Nvidia already holds the record after its value evaporated by 9% to $279 billion last September.
Huang's personal net worth also took a big hit, gaining $20.7 billion to $103.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Other major AI players were also abused in sell-offs. The Tech Heavy Nasdaq index was down 3.44% or 687 points as of 1:30 p.m. ET.
Google Parent Alphabet, which has invested heavily in AI development under CEO Sundar Pichai, fell 3.27%.
Microsoft, which poured billions into Sam Altman's Openai, fell 3.36%. Amazon's stock was less than 1%, while Meta stock was up slightly.
Elon Musk-led Tesla, which has a close relationship with Nvidia and integrates AI across its product lineup, fell nearly 3%. Although Musk's personal fortune has decreased by about $4 billion to $434 billion, he still ranks as the richest person in the world.
Nuclear power plant operator Constellation Energy sank more than 19% on fears that AI would guzzle less energy than it needs going forward. Electrical generator Vistra Corp fell 21%.
