Massive Attack DeepSeek, an AI startup that’s risen to fame in a matter of days and has Silicon Valley shaking in its boots, says it has been hit with a major cyberattack. According to a notice on its website, the startup had to limit user registrations after being hit with “large-scale malicious attacks.” “Existing users can log in as usual,” the message reads. “Thanks for your understanding and support.” It remains unclear what’s behind these “malicious attacks” as DeepSeek continues to “investigate this issue.” But the timing is certainly intriguing. The app’s astronomic rise in popularity, eclipsing ChatGPT on Apple’s App Store ranks, has rattled Silicon Valley, with major industry players on track to lose a staggering combined $1 trillion in stock value today. Is DeepSeek becoming the victim of its own success? Or might one or more of its adversaries be trying to slow down a major competitor, now that the Trump administration has thrown its full weight behind the AI industry? “Elon reads this and smiles as he looks over the 6,000-person war room he built to hack DeepSeek,” tech reporter Matthew Ingram joked in a tweet, insinuating that the multi-hyphenate billionaire had orchestrated a cyberattack against the startup. Spooked Country While we can only speculate as to what’s behind the purported cyberattacks, DeepSeek’s astronomical rise in popularity and apparent cost efficiency sparked a major selloff in global tech stocks, with AI chipmaker Nvidia sliding by more than 16 percent Monday morning. The company wiped out over half…Mega-Hyped Chinese AI App DeepSeek Says It's Been Hit by "Large-Scale Malicious Attacks"