AI stocks fall after leaders call for slower development

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Highlights

Kioxia and SK Hynix fell more than 6%.
Samsung Electronics declined 4.05%.
CXMT lost 3.95% and Zhongji fell 5.72%.
AI safety concerns pressured semiconductor sentiment.

Nasdaq 100 futures dropped about 1.6% during Asian trading as investors reacted to comments from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and xAI chief Elon Musk. Amodei argued for slowing advances in model capabilities because of safety and misuse risks, while Altman and Musk expressed agreement with the broader concern, Reuters reports.

Semiconductor stocks lead the decline

Selling spread quickly through companies exposed to AI infrastructure and memory demand. Kioxia Holdings fell 6.37% to ¥50,590, while South Korea's SK Hynix dropped 6.35% to 169,700 won and Samsung Electronics declined 4.05% to 249,000 won.

Chinese memory-chip producer CXMT fell 3.95% to 54.49 yuan, while Zhongji Innolight dropped 5.72% to 873 yuan in Shenzhen. The moves reflected concern that slower development of advanced AI systems could eventually translate into weaker demand for chips, memory, and computing infrastructure.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. showed a more complicated picture. Its New York-listed shares were up 1.22% at $433.24 in the latest regular-session snapshot, while the extended-hours indication showed $419.54, down 3.16%.

Safety debate reaches market valuations

The selloff followed a series of warnings about the potential consequences of rapidly improving AI agents. Anthropic recently detailed cases in which its Claude models were used for activities involving cyber operations, surveillance, fraud, and weapons-related work.

The debate is becoming more consequential for investors because AI spending has supported semiconductor and technology valuations since the release of ChatGPT in 2022. A meaningful slowdown in frontier-model development could alter expectations for data center construction, advanced processors, and high-bandwidth memory.

Broader geopolitical uncertainty added pressure to sentiment, with the continuing Middle East conflict creating another source of risk for global equities.

AI boom faces a new constraint

Until now, investors have focused largely on whether companies can build enough chips, data centers, and electricity infrastructure to meet AI demand. The latest market reaction introduces a different question: whether safety concerns could limit how quickly that infrastructure is ultimately needed.

That matters for an investment cycle spanning chipmakers, memory suppliers, and networking companies across the U.S. and Asia. Monday's declines, including losses exceeding 6% for Kioxia and SK Hynix, show that investors are beginning to price regulatory and technological restraint alongside the enormous capital requirements of AI development.

We also reported Nvidia expands AI infrastructure network in Australia.

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