Published 14:34 IST, January 28th 2025
DeepSeek Blow: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Loses $20 Billion In Just Two Days
DeepSeek’s low-cost AI app disrupted tech markets, erasing $108 billion from the world’s richest.

Jensen Huang, Nvidia's co-founder and CEO, saw a staggering 20% of his fortune evaporate on Monday, amounting to $20.1 billion. The sharp drop came as Chinese AI developer DeepSeek’s disruptive $6 million chatbot app sent ripples through global tech markets.
DeepSeek’s Low-Cost AI Model Upends Silicon Valley
Hangzhou-based DeepSeek developed its DeepSeek R1 chatbot app in just two months for under $6 million. The app soared to the top of global download charts over the weekend, forcing the company to restrict new signups due to overwhelming demand.
The app’s success challenged Silicon Valley’s belief that massive capital investments are essential for building competitive AI models. Despite its limited access to cutting-edge GPUs, DeepSeek rivaled AI giants like ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude at a fraction of the cost.
The Fallout: Nvidia and Tech Stocks Tumble
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 3.1% as semiconductor stocks led a massive selloff. Nvidia bore the brunt, with its shares dropping nearly 17%, wiping out $593 billion from its market capitalization — the largest single-day loss for any US company in history.
This market reaction underscores investor fears that Nvidia’s AI chips may face reduced demand as cheaper and more efficient alternatives emerge.
Billionaire Fortunes Take a Hit
The selloff wiped out $108 billion from the world’s wealthiest individuals. Tech billionaires were the hardest hit:
Larry Ellison (Oracle): Lost $22.6 billion (12%).
Michael Dell (Dell Inc.): Lost $13 billion.
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao (Binance): Lost $12.1 billion.
Tech-sector titans alone accounted for 85% of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index’s total decline.
China’s AI Ascent and US Concerns
DeepSeek’s rise has drawn attention to Chinese AI developers’ capabilities despite US export controls on advanced GPUs like Nvidia’s H100 chips. Alexandr Wang, CEO of training data provider Scale AI, revealed in a CNBC interview that Chinese labs might possess more H100s than previously thought.
“The Chinese labs have more H100s than people think,” Wang said. “My understanding is that DeepSeek has about 50,000 H100s, which they can’t talk about because of export controls.”
What’s Next for Silicon Valley?
DeepSeek’s breakthrough raises critical questions about Silicon Valley’s reliance on capital-intensive strategies. The rapid adoption of DeepSeek’s low-cost AI model hints at a shift in the global AI race, with Chinese innovation gaining ground.
As Nvidia and other tech giants face rising competition, the DeepSeek saga underscores the volatile and unpredictable nature of the tech sector, where innovation can upend markets overnight.
(With Inputs From Bloomberg)
Updated 17:40 IST, January 28th 2025