Morning bid: China’s AI challenger puts investors on edge

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Kevin Buckland

For two years, investors and analysts have pondered what – if anything – could take some of the steam out of the AI stocks rally. China may have just come up with the answer.

Futures in the tech-centric U.S. Nasdaq Composite index had tumbled 1.8% by around midday Monday in Asia, as investors weighed the implications of Chinese startup DeepSeek’s release of a rival to ChatGPT that it claims is cheaper and may on…