Global AI-linked stocks experienced a significant selloff on Monday following warnings from top artificial intelligence company leaders, such as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, about the risks of rapid AI development and calls for a slower pace. The market reaction reflected concerns that the immense investment flowing into the AI sector might moderate, impacting valuations that many investors already considered a bubble.
The selloff was widespread, affecting major tech companies across Wall Street, Europe, and Asia. Nasdaq 100 futures slid by 1.5% and S&P 500 futures tumbled 0.8% in early trading. Specific companies saw substantial drops: Nvidia, the world's most valuable public company, fell 3%, while chipmakers Arm Holdings and Marvell slid 6%. Cloud computing provider CoreWeave also dropped 6%, and Intel and Hewlett Packard shares tumbled more than 5%. Corning, a key supplier for data center components, experienced a 7.5% decline. In Asia, South Korea's Kopsi index fell over 3%, driven by declines in AI memory firms like Samsung Electronics (down 5%) and SK Hynix (plunging over 7.3%). OpenAI investor SoftBank Group shares plummeted 10.7% in Tokyo.
Further unsettling markets, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that the company would not pursue an IPO this year, stating, "Given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public." This news, combined with Anthropic's Amodei's essay on X advocating for slowing AI progress due to risks like losing control, misuse for cyberattacks, and economic disruption, amplified investor anxieties. While some, like HSBC's chief multi-asset strategist Max Kettner, believe fears of an AI build-out slowdown are "overblown," the market's sensitivity is heightened by tech firms' reliance on public debt for funding AI data centers, making them vulnerable to rising interest rates.
Elon Musk and Sam Altman both publicly supported Amodei's call for a slowdown, though Altman later clarified that "pacing" does not mean "stopping." Despite these clarifications, the market reacted strongly, indicating investor sensitivity to any potential disruption to the high-growth AI narrative. The dramatic market moves underscore the fragility of the AI investment boom and the significant impact of industry leaders' pronouncements on investor sentiment.
