US power stocks plummet as DeepSeek raises data center demand doubts
Shares of U.S. power, utility and natural gas companies sold off on Monday in some of the biggest recorded one-day drops, as new AI technology from Chinese start-up DeepSeek cast doubt on a projected surge in U.S. electricity demand and tech spending. Power producers were among the biggest winners in the S&P 500 last year on expectations of ballooning demand from the energy-guzzling data centers needed to scale Big Tech's artificial intelligence technologies. The wider adoption of AI models like the one developed by DeepSeek, which it says it built in under two months and is cheaper than models currently used by U.S. companies, could result in less electricity demand overall and result in a smaller power build-out, analysts and economists said.
