Everyone has likely read about the stock market crash in China’s AI and semiconductor sectors.
This raises the question: is the situation really that bad?
The Domino Effect: Losses of China's Top Tech Giants
- Robotics Under Fire
Remember the hype surrounding humanoid robots? Unitree Robotics, the creators of incredible human-like robots, went public in August with massive success. However, reality turned out to be brutal: since its IPO, the company's shares have lost half of their value. Tales of robots replacing human labor remain just stories for now. - Optical Components Lose Their Shine
Zhongji Innolight and Eoptolink—the companies that provide the hardware for data transmission—fell by a record ~60% from their summer peak values. Investors are locking in losses and panic-selling their assets. - GPUs and Memory
The main developers of Chinese GPU chips, MetaX and Moore Threads, lost about half (50%) of their value compared to their July performance. Things aren't looking any better in the memory segment either: the giant CXMT dropped by over 25% in the last month alone. US sanction pressure and a shortage of advanced tech are taking their toll. - The Absolute Worst: AI Startups
The most painful blow landed exactly where people expected the biggest gains. Prominent AI startups MiniMax and Zhipu showed a truly cosmic collapse—dropping up to 85% from their historical highs. This is practically a destruction of capital and a serious red flag for the entire venture capital market.
Sometimes it feels as if we've started measuring the success of entire economies by the number of data centers being built, the amount of money flowing into AI startups and the market value of companies that promise to change the world.
If we take a step back and look at the bigger picture, the reality feels deeply dystopian. We have reached a point where the perceived value of humanity, corporations, and entire nations seems to depend almost entirely on virtual bytes sitting on remote servers. Meanwhile, what is left for the actual people who build and live in this world? Measly salaries, endless credit cycles, and skyrocketing prices.
We are clearly doing something wrong.
