Part 2/14:
In late March, Nvidia's stock experienced a historic collapse — a staggering 177% valuation loss in a single day, amounting to approximately $600 billion wiped out from market cap. The catalyst for this financial earthquake was the excitement surrounding Deep Seek R1, which posed a direct challenge to Nvidia's dominance in AI hardware and infrastructure.
Despite Nvidia's stock rebounding after the initial panic, the event signaled that investor confidence was fragile, primarily due to fears that AI breakthroughs might reduce demand for proprietary chips. Investors speculated that if AI models like Deep Seek can operate efficiently on lower-cost hardware, Nvidia’s market position could be undermined.