AI stocks plunge as industry leaders urge slower model development
What's the story
Global AI-related stocks witnessed a major dip on Monday, following Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's call for a slowdown in the development of AI capabilities. The proposal was backed by other leading tech figures, raising concerns among investors about its potential impact on companies across the sector and adoption rates.
Market impact
Asian tech giants suffer massive stock declines
In Asia, tech giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics saw their shares plummet by over 6% and 4%, respectively.
SoftBank, a major investor in OpenAI, also witnessed a massive 10% drop in its stock value in Japan.
The downturn isn't limited to Asia as semiconductor and other AI-related stocks across Europe have also taken a hit during early trading sessions today.
Global response
Europe's chip and data center construction companies also hit
In Europe, chip equipment giant ASML's shares fell by over 4%, while Nokia and Infineon saw declines of around 5% and over 6%, respectively.
Companies involved in data center construction, such as Siemens Energy and Schneider Electric, also witnessed a dip in their stock values.
The US market wasn't immune either, with memory chipmaker Micron's shares falling by around 5%, Intel's dropping nearly 6%, and NVIDIA's declining by more than 2%.
Industry reaction
Market reaction to escalating AI fears
The market downturn follows a heated debate over the dangers of rapidly evolving AI model capabilities.
This was triggered last week when Jacob Coxon, a researcher at Anthropic and former OpenAI employee, resigned due to fears that Anthropic and OpenAI are "gambling with our lives."
In response to these claims, Anthropic safety researcher Evan Hubinger suggested there's a greater than 10% chance AI could "kill all humans" within the next decade.
Call for caution
Amodei urges AI capability development slowdown
In light of these developments, Amodei wrote an essay on Saturday urging a slowdown in AI capabilities' development.
He said, "We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models."
His call was echoed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
However, Altman clarified that this doesn't mean halting progress altogether but rather pacing it appropriately.
Expert opinions
Potential impact on chip and computing power purchases
Market experts have expressed concerns that a slowdown in AI development could affect various sectors, including chip and computing power purchases.
Zoe Gillespie, a senior director at RBC Brewin Dolphin, told CNBC that if the equity market rally based on AI growth starts to derail, it could impact equity performance going forward.
However, Ben Barringer, global head of technology research at Quilter Cheviot, remained optimistic about company revenues despite potential slowdowns in training and rollout processes.