Shares of Australian companies involved in artificial intelligence fell on Jan. 28 after Chinese startup DeepSeek launched a low-cost AI assistant.

AI software firm Appen’s stock dropped by 3.3%, while chipmaker Brainchip saw a more substantial decline of 10.3%.

The broader technology sub-index decreased by 1%.

DeepSeek’s AI assistant, released last week, reportedly functions with lower data requirements at a significantly reduced cost compared to current options.

Australian data-center-related companies also felt the impact, with Goodman Group down 6.4%, NEXTDC down 6.2%, and DigiCo Infrastructure REIT down 11.1%.

Concerns arose that DeepSeek’s product could lead to decreased spending on data infrastructure.