The Australian government has banned the AI company on all government devices and networks over fears about national security

A frenzy over an artificial intelligence chatbot made by Chinese tech startup DeepSeek was upending stock markets Monday and fueling debates over the economic and geopolitical competition between the U.

Some AI researchers hailed DeepSeek’s R1 as a breakthrough on the same level as DeepMind’s AlphaZero, a 2017 model that became superhuman at the board games Chess and Go by purely playing against itself and improving, rather than observing any human games.

The Hang Seng Tech Index, which tracks the 30 largest technology companies listed in the city, rose as much as 2.9% on Friday, reflecting a rise of more than 20% from its January low.

Asian shares Friday were mixed, with Chinese technology stocks rising as most other Asian equities declined. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped nearly 0.44% in early trading to

Beijing’s growing clout in the artificial intelligence space has sparked a wave of optimism toward Chinese tech shares, with a gauge approaching a technical bull market and brokers issuing upbeat calls.

The Hang Seng Tech Index gained 2.5% on Friday, with a total increase of more than 20% since January. It appears that DeepSeek’s hype has erased concerns of trade wars among Chinese investors, due to which China’s tech stocks in Hong Kong continue to surge.

A frenzy over an artificial intelligence chatbot made by Chinese tech startup DeepSeek upended stock markets Monday, fueling debates over the economic and geopolitical competition between the U.S. and China in developing AI technology.