News emerging from China has caused a significant stir in U.S. financial markets on Monday, interrupting the excitement that has surrounded artificial intelligence advancements. A company named DeepSeek announced that it has created a competitive large language model capable of rivaling U.S. tech giants, but at a considerably lower cost. By Monday morning, DeepSeek’s app had reached the top of Apple’s free app rankings, an impressive achievement, particularly in light of U.S. government restrictions limiting Chinese access to leading AI chip technology.

As a result of this news, several prominent technology stocks, including Nvidia, Broadcom, and Alphabet (Google’s parent company), experienced substantial declines. However, it’s worth noting that while tech stocks struggled, other sectors of the market still managed to post solid gains.

A closer look at the financial impact of DeepSeek reveals the following insights:

**5.6%**
The S&P 500 tech sector saw a significant 5.6% decline on Monday, marking the largest drop for the index since September 2020. Nvidia was among eight tech stocks that suffered double-digit losses during this downturn. The overall decline for the sector could have been more severe if not for Apple’s stock, which gained over 3%.

**$590 billion**
Nvidia’s market valuation took a hit, dropping approximately $590 billion. This loss is greater than the combined values of major home improvement retailers, Home Depot and Lowe’s. Despite this, Nvidia still retains a formidable market value of around $2.9 trillion.

**$27.6 billion**
Following the selloff, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison experienced a drop in his net worth by about $27.6 billion, as noted by the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list. Ellison’s wealth had increased the previous week after comments from former President Donald Trump regarding a partnership involving OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, which is expected to invest up to $500 billion in AI-related infrastructure. Even with this loss, Ellison is still valued at approximately $200 billion. Similarly, Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, saw his net worth decline by $20.8 billion, leaving him with $103.6 billion.

**28.3%**
Vistra Corp. faced the steepest drop in the S&P 500, plummeting by 28.3%. Notably, Vistra is not a tech company; it operates as an independent power producer. Its shares surged last year due to expectations that the growth of AI infrastructure in the U.S. would demand significant energy resources.

**351**
On a day when the overall index fell, 351 stocks within the S&P 500 actually rose. This scenario illustrates the disproportionate impact of major tech stocks like Nvidia on the index’s performance. Conversely, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which consists of fewer tech stocks, concluded the day with a modest increase.