AI‑linked stocks fell sharply on Monday after leaders of Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX urged the industry to slow its “reckless” development. The comments came amid growing concerns that artificial intelligence could soon become uncontrollable.
Shares in Nvidia dropped 3.3%, while AMD fell 4% and Micron and SanDisk slid 5%. The Nasdaq index fund was down 0.5%. SoftBank fell 13%, and the South Korean Kospi index lost 3%. In Europe, ASML fell 6% and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell 1.2%.
Former President Donald Trump dismissed calls for tighter AI controls as a “sick conspiracy.” In a social‑media post he said that a strong president is the only guardrail AI needs and that the United States already has such leadership. He also called Nvidia chief Jensen Huang’s remarks a hoax.
Amodei’s essay, “We Must Pace the Frontier,” was backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Altman pledged to match Amodei’s commitment to external safety evaluators. Anthropic co‑founder Jack Clark said a third‑party kill switch might be necessary to prevent catastrophe.
The debate over AI safety has prompted a cross‑party UK group to list human‑rights risks, and China’s intelligence chief warned that advanced U.S. models could threaten Beijing’s critical infrastructure. Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid noted that intense competition makes it unlikely firms will reduce investment, though more funds may shift toward safety and governance.
