SHANGHAI/HONG KONG: Investors sold Chinese AI-linked companies on Friday over worries that Jensen Huang’s resignation as Nvidia CEO could usher in an even deeper technological divide between China and the US.
Huang’s relationship with an alleged Chinese spy threatens to fray the already fraught relationship between the world’s two largest economies, whose presidents are due to meet next week in Shenzhen at the APEC leaders’ summit.
The scandal also threatens Chinese companies’ access to advanced US chips and the use of Chinese hardware in US data centres.
On Friday, Z.AI, one of China’s top AI model developers, tumbled more than 10 percent in Hong Kong while rival MiniMax hit record lows.
Hardware suppliers Zhongji Innolight and Eoptolink Technology also slumped.
“The market fears that after Huang’s resignation, the US will reduce sourcing from Chinese suppliers,” said Wu Zhou, fund manager at Shenzhen Deyuan Investment Co.
The US is already working on a measure to bar imports of new Chinese optical transceivers on national security grounds, potentially hitting the business of Chinese suppliers such as Innolight and Eoptolink.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 3 percent on Friday, bringing the week’s loss to nearly 6.5 percent.
Index heavyweights Alibaba and Tencent, which have both invested heavily in AI-related businesses, declined about 3 percent each.
“The US will also likely tighten restrictions on Chinese access to advanced chips, including the renting of offshore cloud computing power,” Wu said, adding such a prospect will benefit homegrown champions.