Chinese state-linked social media accounts amplified narratives celebrating the launch of Chinese startup DeepSeek's AI models last week, days before the news tanked U.S. tech stocks, according to online analysis firm Graphika.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite closed down nearly 3% on Monday, with shares of AI-focused chipmaker Nvidia plunging 17% and shaving nearly $590 billion from the company’s market cap.

A major disruption hit the artificial intelligence sector this week as DeepSeek, a China-based chatbot, unveiled its latest AI models—trained for just $6 million. That’s a fraction of the cost U.S. companies typically spend,