Technology and semiconductor stocks fell across global markets after industry leaders called for a deliberate slowdown in the development of advanced artificial intelligence, according to WHBL. The market downturn followed an essay published on Saturday by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who outlined a framework to pace the advancement of frontier AI models and create more time to manage safety risks.
Global Tech Stocks Fall After Tech Leaders Call to Slow AI Development
Amodei’s essay was subsequently endorsed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, as reported by Reuters. The coordinated calls for a slower pace of development prompted investors to reassess future capital spending on AI infrastructure, including custom chips, optical interconnects, and data-centre silicon.
As a result, major semiconductor and hardware stocks experienced sharp declines. Marvell Technology shares fell 7.6% in pre-market trading, as noted by Yahoo Finance. Futures tracking Wall Street’s Nasdaq e-mini index dropped 1.9%, while Nvidia fell 3%, Advanced Micro Devices slid 5.7%, and Musk’s SpaceX dropped 2.6%. Hyperscalers including Meta and Amazon.com dropped over 1.4% each, and European tech stocks fell 2.5%, weighed down by a 5.8% drop in chip equipment giant ASML.
Geopolitical Tensions and Official Responses
In his essay, Amodei also urged the United States to strengthen chip export controls on China and crack down on alleged model distillation by Chinese AI labs. He later told CBS News that the toughest dilemma regarding his proposal was whether China and other adversarial nations would choose not to follow suit.
The proposal drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing. The state-backed Reuters reported that the Global Times published an editorial blasting Amodei’s essay as a Cold War playbook
intended to curb China’s technological development, uphold Washington’s monopolistic hegemony, and exclude China from the global AI governance system. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, urged all parties at a daily briefing to promote an open, inclusive, and benevolent approach to AI, stating that engaging in confrontation and malicious competition disrupts global governance.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump brushed aside calls to slow down AI development, telling reporters on Sunday that very negative forces
were raising exaggerated concerns.
Investor Skepticism and Future Outlook
Deutsche Bank noted in a research note that the competitive race between companies and countries remains too intense for firms to voluntarily step back while rivals push ahead. Despite the market jitters, Anthropic is reportedly pressing ahead with its public debut expected next month, with sources indicating the company is in talks to bring Nvidia on board as an anchor investor.
