The emergence of DeepSeek is casting doubt on the power needs of AI—and on the stocks of independent power producers.

This week's announcement by President Donald Trump of a massive private-sector investment to build more AI data centers casts a spotlight on a relatively small and nimble class of cloud computing firms positioned to play a bigger role in the tech sector.

Shares of U.S. power, utility and natural gas companies sold off on Monday in some of the biggest recorded one-day drops, as new AI technology from Chinese start-up DeepSeek cast doubt on a projected surge in U.

Early Monday trading saw sharp declines across the US stock market, triggered by the unexpected rise of a Chinese AI app, DeepSeek. Over the weekend, DeepSeek soared to the top of Apple’s app chart, sending shockwaves through industries tied to artificial intelligence.