Tech stocks slide as AI safety warnings rattle global markets

Nvidia fell 3% in premarket trading, while Nasdaq 100 futures signaled a 1.6% drop at the open. The volatility follows a weekend in which Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei publicly urged firms to throttle the pace of development, citing potential for severe economic damage. His call found traction with prominent figures, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, who have signaled support for stricter external safety evaluations.

Market anxiety intensified after Jacob Coxon, a former researcher at both OpenAI and Anthropic, resigned last week with a stark warning that rival labs were gambling with public safety. This sentiment hit Asian markets hardest; SoftBank shares plunged 11%, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing dropped 2%. In the US, the sell-off extended to memory-chip producers, with SanDisk and Micron facing significant premarket losses of 9% and 5% respectively. Analysts suggest these movements reflect a growing investor unease that AI valuations have detached from current profit realities, casting a long shadow over Anthropic’s anticipated US listing later this year.