Chinese AI firms fall on report of DeepSeek, Moonshot probe

SHARES of Chinese artificial intelligence model developers fell after a report that the country’s regulators have opened a probe into startups DeepSeek and Moonshot AI over data security concerns. 

Z.AI and MiniMax Group’s shares declined as much as 7.4 per cent and 6.3 per cent in Hong Kong, respectively, after a report by The Information.

The US tech news outlet’s report added that the probe began after Anthropic’s accusations that DeepSeek and Moonshot AI had been routing sensitive data through its Claude models.

Alibaba Group Holding, which develops the Qwen model, also slid 4.2 per cent following the report. 

The development adds to investor concerns that Chinese AI firms may face intensified scrutiny amid growing debate over AI safety.

Expectations are mounting that US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will seek an agreement on the AI industry at their upcoming summit.

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Investors are “afraid” that Beijing may heighten scrutiny of the industry, said Leonid Mironov, portfolio manager at Gavekal Capital. Sentiment has weakened as the scope of regulation remains unclear and may risk slowing China’s AI model development, he added.

Other technology companies with their own AI models also declined, with Xiaomi and Tencent each falling about 2.5 per cent. BLOOMBERG