AI stocks slide as safety warnings hit chip shares worldwide

AI stocks fell Monday, with the Nasdaq 100 down yüzde 1,7, after leading executives backed calls to slow model advances.

Chipmakers take the first hit

The move was concentrated in chip and infrastructure names that have led the AI trade since OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022. The Philadelphia chip index dropped 6% in early trading, while Nvidia fell yüzde 3,5, Advanced Micro Devices slid yüzde 5,6 and Micron lost yüzde 6,7.

The pressure extended beyond US chip designers. Europe’s technology sector fell yüzde 2,3, dragged lower by a yüzde 6,7 decline in ASML, while SoftBank fell as much as yüzde 13,2 in Asia and chipmakers TSMC and SK Hynix also retreated.

Suppliers tied to data center buildouts also fell as investors marked down the infrastructure side of the trade. Lam Research lost yüzde 8, Applied Materials dropped yüzde 7, Bloom Energy fell yüzde 8,9 and GE Vernova declined yüzde 7,6.

Amodei essay changes the tape

Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, used a Saturday essay on X to call for slower advances in AI model capability. Elon Musk, who runs xAI, and Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, said they agreed with Amodei.

Altman also said OpenAI would not proceed with an IPO this year, citing safety concerns. The comments landed in a market where AI companies are increasingly relying on debt and circular financing to fund spending plans while bond yields sit at multi-year highs.

The safety debate had intensified before Monday’s market move. Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned earlier this month, stating that the "people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade."

Anthropic later released a threat intelligence report saying its Claude models had been used in activities including weapons development, cyber operations, surveillance and fraud. Amodei wrote over the weekend that AI agents could, within six to 12 months, be capable of taking over the internet and causing hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.

Washington splits over AI risk

Altman described human-extinction risks from AI as "unacceptable," according to the source material. Several US lawmakers have called for new rules, but President Trump on Sunday described AI critics as "very negative forces" and said he wanted the US to remain the industry leader.

The policy split matters for companies whose valuations assume fast deployment, expanding data center demand and continued access to capital. If regulation slows model releases, revenue timing could stretch for AI labs and orders could become harder to justify for chip, equipment and power suppliers.

Spending boom faces a test

Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers, linked the market risk to the scale of AI spending. "If this does lead to sort of a slowdown and a rethink of AI spending, that will have ramifications for the economy and some important sectors of the stock market, because essentially, we've been running hot based on AI spending," he said.

Some investors disputed the warnings. Michael Burry, known for bets against the US housing market before the 2008 financial crisis, said on X that the warnings were "hype and puffery" and "cover for real uncontrollable slowing growth."

Others pointed to capital spending plans as a reason the cycle may continue. Morgan Stanley’s Brian Nowak forecast earlier this year that AI spending will surpass $1.2 trillion by 2027, an anchor figure for investors assessing whether Monday’s drop marks a reset or a repricing.

Deutsche Bank analysts framed the central question around whether the AI investment cycle could moderate. "For now, that seems unlikely," the bank said, adding that competition between companies and countries makes it difficult to imagine firms stepping back while rivals continue.

Slower models, pricier capital

If executives’ warnings translate into slower model releases, global equity indexes would lose some support from AI capital spending. OpenAI would face a longer runway before any public listing, while chip and equipment suppliers would need existing demand to absorb capacity.

If spending plans hold despite the warnings, the macro effect would remain tied to capital expenditure, power demand and financing costs. OpenAI and Anthropic would stay in a capital race, while the wider sector would keep benefiting from orders but carry more exposure to debt-funded expansion.

If bond yields continue rising, financing may become the constraint even without a formal regulatory pause. That path would test whether AI-linked companies can convert model advances into cash flow quickly enough to support valuations built during the post-ChatGPT rally.