AI bubble bursts in China
The gist
China's STAR50 AI and chip index fell 40% in under four months, erasing about $480 billion.
The slump tests Beijing's push to steer savers into stocks funding its AI boom.
How it unfolded
- Oct 9, 2026Australian datacenter company Firmus called off its initial public offering, which would have been Australia's largest float in 20 years, targeting around $5 billion at a valuation over $40 billion.
- Mid-October 2026Beijing's Ministry of Commerce revised its Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited and Restricted from Export, adding 23 technologies related to large-scale models, intelligent agents, computing clusters and information processing; open-source-licensed tech was exempt.
- Last Friday, before Oct 26, 2026Chinese state media reported that two companies, named elsewhere as DeepSeek and MiniMax, received authorization to continue exports.