AI-linked stocks, particularly in the semiconductor and cloud computing sectors, tumbled on Monday after key figures in the artificial intelligence industry, such as Dario Amodei of Anthropic and Sam Altman of OpenAI, called for a slowdown in the pace of AI development. These calls, citing the need for increased safety measures and a more controlled progression, led to significant market reactions globally. For example, Nasdaq 100 futures slid by 1.5% and S&P 500 futures fell 0.8% in early Monday trading, with some analysts noting this could be the Nasdaq 100's worst day in about six weeks if trends continued.
The impact was widespread among major tech companies and chipmakers. Nvidia, the world's most valuable public company, saw its shares drop by 3%. Other chipmakers like Arm Holdings and Marvell each slid 6%, while Intel and Hewlett Packard shares tumbled over 5%. Cloud computing provider CoreWeave also experienced a 6% decline, and Corning, a crucial supplier for data center components, fell 7.5%. Even leading cloud companies like Amazon and Microsoft saw declines of almost 2% and 1% respectively, with Google parent Alphabet dropping approximately 0.8%.
International markets also felt the repercussions. South Korea's benchmark Kospi index sharply fell more than 3%, primarily due to a sell-off in AI memory firms, with Samsung Electronics down 5% and SK Hynix plunging over 7.3%. In Japan, SoftBank Group, an investor in OpenAI, saw its shares fall by 10.7%, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 1.2%. European tech manufacturers, such as Dutch company ASML, also experienced declines of up to 5.4%. Analysts are debating whether these warnings signal a potential moderation in the extraordinary AI investment cycle, although some believe fears of a broader tech sector impact are overblown given the intense competitive landscape.
