AI executives' calls to slow the development of artificial intelligence technology are likely to weigh on chipmaker and supply-chain stocks in the near term. This sentiment was conveyed by Bloomberg's Sunny Bangia and Anthony Stephens, highlighting the immediate financial implications of such a slowdown.
The warning from AI leaders, particularly Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman, to introduce safeguards and pace the development of advanced AI models, has already caused a ripple effect in the financial markets. Investors are concerned that a broader industry slowdown could curb adoption and impact the earnings growth of companies reliant on AI advancements.
Specific companies and sectors have already felt the impact. SoftBank, a significant investor in OpenAI, saw its shares slide over 10% in Tokyo. Chip stocks globally, including SK Hynix, ASML, Micron, and Intel, experienced declines, with SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics closing down more than 6% and 4% respectively in Asia. European semiconductor giants like ASML, Nokia, and Infineon also saw drops of 4% to 6%.
While some analysts, like Ben Barringer from Quilter Cheviot, believe that the pace of change will still be vast and that demand for inference will continue to outstrip supply, the near-term outlook for these stocks remains cautious. The current market rally has been heavily based on AI growth and productivity gains, and any derailment of this growth could significantly impact equity performance. Major tech companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet also saw slight declines in premarket trading.
