The Chinese AI startup, which has been quietly working on its AI models since 2023, shocked investors this weekend when its DeepSeek R1 chatbot app rocketed to the top of global download charts. In the blink of an eye, it wiped out a staggering $108 billion from the combined fortunes of the world’s 500 wealthiest individuals. Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang bore the brunt of this hit, seeing his net worth drop by a sharp 20%, or $20.1 billion, as the tech sector reeled from the news. In the world of AI and big data, where billions are often thrown at developing cutting-edge systems, DeepSeek’s low-budget, $5.6 million R1 app challenged the idea that massive capital was required to build the most advanced models. Oracle’s Larry Ellison lost $22.6 billion—though, in relative terms, that was a smaller hit to his fortune. Others were similarly impacted: Michael Dell saw $13 billion vanish from his pocket, and Binance’s Changpeng Zhao lost $12.1 billion. In total, tech billionaires took a beating to the tune of $94 billion, nearly 85% of the overall drop among the richest. Stocks took a hit, too—the Nasdaq tumbled 3.1%, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.5%. Though companies like Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft have raked in billions from AI, their own pricey investments haven’t translated into profits just yet. The tech giants, who’ve spent colossal sums to race ahead in AI, are now forced to contend with a startup that’s offering similar results on a shoestring budget.