Tech jitters to hit ASX after China offers up AI rival

Australian shares are poised for a cautious start as investors worry about China’s AI progress, the Federal Reserve meeting and key local inflation data.

Cecile LefortMarkets reporter

Jan 27, 2025 – 4.02pm

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Jitters in the technology sector could hit Australian shares on Tuesday amid concerns that Chinese start-up DeepSeek will disrupt the US tech giants in a week that’s packed with big corporate earnings, key economic data and central bank meetings.

Nasdaq futures were down 1.2 per cent after DeepSeek launched a free, open-source artificial intelligence model that it claimed was as powerful as ChatGPT, but built at a fraction of the cost. AI chip leader Nvidia had already tumbled more than 3 per cent on Friday.

Cecile Lefort is a markets reporter based in the Sydney newsroom. Email Cecile at cecile.lefort@afr.com