'The first AI bubble has burst' — in China, where AI stocks lost $480 billion in four months

"THE FIRST AI BUBBLE HAS BURST," market account @BullTheoryio posted on Oct 26, drawing 2,300 likes. A post relaying Reuters' report that "China's AI bubble has already burst" from @NewsWire_US topped 10,000 likes and 450,000 views.

According to Reuters and Austria's Trending Topics, the STAR 50 index of Chinese AI and chip leaders on Shanghai's tech board closed at 1,315.50 on Oct 26, nearly 40% below its July peak. About $480 billion in market value vanished in under four months. Over the same stretch the Nasdaq sits only about 6% under the record it set three weeks ago.

On X, one tally had robot maker Unitree down 50% from its high (@macropaperr). Even after the crash, the STAR 50 still trades near 100 times earnings versus about 30 for the Nasdaq 100, another post noted (@InTheAssembly).

Fund manager Dong Baozhen called it a bubble bursting, saying the market had degenerated into a speculative frenzy. Hong Hao of Lotus Asset Management warned many companies could shelve IPO plans. BNP Paribas' William Bratton, by contrast, sees a buying opportunity for cautious investors.

Anthropic filed for its Nasdaq IPO on Oct 26, with a valuation of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion floated. "A bubble collapse originating from China, no less. Right before Anthropic is about to go public, of all times," one X user wrote (@artagongulgul, 612 likes).