Media365
Chinese chipmakers rallied on Friday while artificial intelligence application firms retreated, as investors rotated into semiconductor stocks on expectations of stronger demand for computing power following a new model release by start-up DeepSeek.
Shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp rose 10 per cent by the close in Hong Kong, while Hua Hong Semiconductor surged 15 per cent, extending a broader rally among mainland chipmakers.
In contrast, several AI application developers came under pressure. Knowledge Atlas Technology, also known as Zhipu AI, fell 9.1 per cent, while MiniMax dropped 9.4 per cent, as the latest model intensified competition in the fast-evolving generative AI sector.
Both companies have rallied strongly this year, buoyed by investor enthusiasm for China’s home-grown AI champions and expectations of rapid commercialisation.
The shift followed the release of DeepSeek-V4 by Hangzhou-based DeepSeek, widely seen as one of China’s strongest challengers to OpenAI and Anthropic. The company said its next-generation foundational model was competitive with leading US closed-source systems from firms including OpenAI and Google DeepMind.
DeepSeek was reportedly in talks with Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding for its first funding round. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
The launch comes against a backdrop of intensifying US-China competition in AI, with Washington tightening export controls on advanced chips from Nvidia, pushing Chinese firms to accelerate the development and adoption of domestic alternatives.
