China's AI Stock Market Crashes 40%, Wiping Out $480 Billion as Venture Funding Plummets

China's artificial intelligence investment boom has dramatically reversed, with the STAR50 index of AI and semiconductor companies falling 40 percent in less than four months and erasing roughly $480 billion in market value. The collapse marks the sector's steepest decline since commercial large language model development began in 2023, forcing a sudden reset after a period of unprecedented speculation.