Market Volatility: Hong Kong AI Stocks Plunge Despite Technical Hype of DeepSeek-V4

The Hong Kong stock market witnessed a sharp correction in the AI sector today, as shares of major domestic AI players saw significant declines. Despite the technical acclaim surrounding the recent release of DeepSeek-V4, which many considered a breakthrough in "low-cost high-performance" AI, investors appeared to engage in heavy profit-taking and expressed concerns over a potential "AI Price War."

Analysts point out that while the $0.14 per million tokens pricing of DeepSeek-V4 is a win for developers, it puts immense pressure on the profit margins of other AI companies who have yet to optimize their compute costs. Companies like Zhipu Technology and Minimax were among the hardest hit, as the market began to re-evaluate the long-term sustainability of the current "growth-at-all-costs" model.

Investment firms are now looking for companies that have a "Vertical Moat"—specific industry applications and proprietary data—rather than just "Horizontal General Intelligence." The volatility suggests that the initial phase of speculative AI investment is giving way to a more disciplined era where actual revenue and cost-efficiency are the primary metrics for success.