Global technology stocks have slumped after warnings from artificial intelligence (AI) bosses sparked fears that the pace of the technology’s development could slow.
A sell-off was sweeping across Wall Street on Monday afternoon, helping drag on the tech-focused Nasdaq 100 index which was down by about 1.2%.
AI chipmaker Nvidia was down by about 3% and Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX was down by about 1% in the morning’s trading in New York.
Other chipmakers were being impacted by the sell-off with semiconductor maker Micron Technology dropped by about 5%, and Intel shares were down by more than 6%.
It follows losses for tech and AI stocks on Asian stock markets overnight.
Over the weekend, Mr Musk and OpenAI leader Sam Altman backed a call from the boss of Anthropic for the AI industry to “slow down” to give safety measures time to catch up.
Dario Amodei wrote in an essay that he was concerned about AI “advancing drastically faster” since the summer and that the technology could be capable of taking over the entire internet.
Anthropic is preparing to launch its shares on the US stock market in what is anticipated to be one of the world’s largest initial public offerings (IPO).
Ben Barringer, head of technology research at Quilter Cheviot, said Mr Amodei may wish to be seen to be leading the debate around the responsible use of AI.
“The company is also in IPO mode so Amodei will want to show the company is a good steward of investors’ capital, while there may also be an element of looking to push a fresh regulatory agenda and push for more controls that may ultimately be beneficial for Anthropic.
“Regardless of this, it has clearly spooked the market that the pace of change may slow.
“However, while things may slow somewhat, the pace of change is still going to be vast.
“Demand still far outstrips supply, so even if things are to slow a little, company revenues are unlikely to be impacted.”
Donald Trump responded on Monday to criticise what he described as a “sick conspiracy” against AI and data centres and pushed back against the calls for greater regulation to ensure safety measures can catch up.
