The speed at which the new Chinese AI app DeepSeek has shaken the technology industry, the markets and the bullish sense of American superiority in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) has been nothing short of stunning. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen may have said it best. "DeepSeek-R1 is AI's Sputnik moment," he posted to X on Sunday, referring to the satellite which kicked off the space race. DeepSeek was the most downloaded free app on Apple's US App Store over the weekend. By Monday, the new AI chatbot had triggered a massive sell-off of major tech stocks which were in freefall as fears mounted over America's leadership in the sector.