The Nasdaq Composite fell 1% and the Nasdaq 100 hit a six-week low on Monday as chip and AI stocks sold off worldwide after Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman called for the industry to slow the pace of frontier AI development. President Donald Trump rejected the idea, dismissing the safety warnings as a conspiracy against AI and data centers.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 1% on Monday as AI-linked stocks slid worldwide after Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei called for the industry to slow its race to build ever more powerful models. The S&P 500 lost 0.7% over the same session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 233 points, or 0.4%.
Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 hit a six-week low in early trading, dropping by at least 1.7%, the Guardian reported. Nvidia, the chipmaker at the center of the AI boom, fell 3% in the same session. It still appeared to remain the world's largest listed company, worth around $5tn, even after the drop.
Chipmakers absorb the sharpest losses
Broadcom also declined 3% alongside Nvidia. Advanced Micro Devices and Intel each dropped 5%. Marvell Technology shed 6%.
Losses spread across Asia. SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics closed down more than 6% and 4% in South Korea. SoftBank, one of OpenAI's biggest investors, fell 10% in Japan.
Amodei and Altman make the case for a pause
Amodei wrote in a Saturday essay that AI companies need to slow the pace of advancing their best models because of safety risks. He told CBS News on Sunday that the toughest part of such a plan is what happens if China does not do the same.
Altman, in a separate weekend interview, said an IPO this year would be ill-advised. He also wrote on X that "no amount of American competitive pressure should justify recklessness."
Trump dismisses the AI slowdown push
President Donald Trump rejected the idea of a slowdown, posting on Truth Social that AI needs no oversight beyond his own leadership and accusing critics of running a conspiracy against AI and data centers. The Guardian said the remarks suggest the White House will not back a pause despite the industry's own warnings.
European chip and AI-linked stocks also fell sharply in early trading. ASML fell more than 4%. Infineon dropped more than 6%.
Sources: CNBC, The Guardian
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