Overview
- DeepSeek’s 2025 releases — V3 and the reasoning model R1 — matched or surpassed leading benchmarks at far lower cost and helped trigger a January 27 sell-off that erased nearly $1 trillion in tech value, including about $600 billion from Nvidia.
- US export curbs on advanced AI chips constrained access but spurred domestic development, with local suppliers gaining ground and MetaX cofounder Chen Weiliang reported to have joined the billionaire ranks.
- In December, President Donald Trump allowed Nvidia to sell H200 chips to approved customers in China, a limited easing that left broader restrictions intact.
- Investor interest is shifting toward Chinese AI and internet stocks, with UBS labeling Chinese tech the most attractive on policy support and accelerating monetization.
- Xi also spotlighted high-profile projects — from the Tianwen-2 asteroid mission to an electromagnetic catapult carrier, a massive dam in Tibet, and advances in humanoid robots and drones — to frame broader technological progress.