The AI future is now, and markets are reacting differently in the US and China

Artificial intelligence is already reshaping industries and markets, even though artificial general intelligence (AGI) – a still theoretical form of AI capable of humanlike reasoning across many tasks rather than single specialised functions – has yet to be achieved.

That was the message of a recent essay posted on X by start-up founder Matt Shumer, titled “Something Big Is Happening”. He likened the current moment to the period just before the Covid-19 pandemic, arguing that the disruption driven by AI could prove “much, much bigger”.

The warning has resonated across US tech and investment circles, capping several uneasy weeks in which traditional software-as-a-service (SaaS) stocks came under pressure amid concerns that their business models could be undermined in an AI-driven economy.

China, however, has so far appeared relatively insulated from this latest bout of AI-fuelled anxiety.

Even as Chinese AI models continue to narrow the gap with their US counterparts, particularly following a string of major releases over the past week, legacy software stocks in China have largely held steady.

Some AI-adjacent firms have even attracted fresh investor interest. Cultural and content-creation companies, for example, saw share prices rise after ByteDance unveiled its powerful Seedance 2.0 video-generation model, as the industry expects the tool to improve productivity and streamline workflows.