The Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) experienced a significant plummet of 5.77% in the intraday trading session on Monday, underperforming the broader market. The ETF's decline was driven by the intense competition emerging in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector, which heavily impacted its technology holdings, particularly Nvidia, the ETF's second-largest holding.
According to reports, a Chinese startup named DeepSeek has launched a powerful new AI model that has already surpassed the downloads of OpenAI's ChatGPT on Apple's App Store. This development has been dubbed a "Sputnik moment" for U.S. AI companies, whose share prices tumbled in response to the news.
Nvidia, a leading chipmaker and a key player in the AI space, saw its stock price plunge nearly 17% by midday on Monday, significantly impacting ETFs with high exposure to the company. The Vanguard Information Technology ETF, with nearly 15% of its portfolio invested in Nvidia, was caught in the crossfire, contributing to its substantial decline.