Tech stocks experienced a downturn in premarket trading on Monday, attributed to growing concerns about the risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI). Nvidia shares fell by 3%, SpaceX saw a decline of 0.6%, and Google was down 0.7%, with Nasdaq 100 futures indicating a potential overall drop of 1.6% at market opening.
This sell-off follows a weekend where Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, called for a slowdown in AI development, labeling its current pace as “reckless.” He warned that advanced AI could lead to substantial economic damage. Prominent figures, including Sam Altman (OpenAI), Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind), and Elon Musk (SpaceX), supported Amodei’s call for more cautious development practices.
Investor sentiment further soured following Jacob Coxon, a former researcher at both OpenAI and Anthropic, expressing concerns that tech companies are “gambling with our lives” in their AI race. In Asia, the market felt the impact of these warnings more severely, with chipmakers and AI sector suppliers notably affected. For instance, SoftBank, a key backer of OpenAI, dropped nearly 11%, while South Korea’s tech-heavy Kospi index fell by 3%.
In the United States, memory-chip companies also suffered, with SanDisk expected to see a 9% decline, Intel at 4%, and Micron at 5%. This market response highlights broader apprehensions about whether AI stock valuations are justified by current earnings, especially as companies like Anthropic approach a potential IPO.
