Will Chinese AI get the Treasury off the hook?

The launch of the Chinese chatbot DeepSeek has caused turmoil in the markets. The release of China’s newest AI – which appears to work as effectively as programmes developed in the West – saw tech stocks plummet when the market opened today. It hasn’t helped that DeepSeek was made for $6 million: pennies compared to its competition. All assumptions about this technology – the required parts, the assumed costs – have fallen apart and investors are panicking over what was already a muddled future for the development of AI.

But in the midst of market turmoil, there is always a degree of stability. As markets lose confidence in emerging tech products, they seek refuge in stable investments: that’s to say, they look to safe governments as an alternative for their investments. 

And the UK is one of the many winners. Today, for the first time since the start of the year, the 10-year gilt in Britain fell below 4.6