Nvidia is the gold standard and leading provider of the graphics processing units (GPUs) used to train and run AI systems. The company is believed to control as much as 98% of the data center GPU market, according to semiconductor analyst firm TechInsights. If AI models can be trained on lower-cost, inferior chips, Nvidia has a lot to lose.

A slew of stocks, including chip maker Nvidia, fell Monday after Chinese startup DeepSeek released an AI model that runs on less-advanced chips and at a lower cost than U.S. rivals.

Nvidia spoke positively about DeepSeek’s latest AI model, R1, saying it represented “excellent AI advancement.”