Chip Stocks Tumble After AI Leaders Call For Slowdown in AI Development

The CEOs of the companies developing the most advanced AI models have called for the pace of development to slow to prevent threats to humanity.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on AI companies to slow the rate at which they advance model capabilities amid mounting fears of misuse of artificial intelligence.

Both Elon Musk, who runs xAI, and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, agreed with Amodei.

European chip stocks followed Asian peers lower.

Nasdaq futures fell amid a global selloff in artificial intelligence stocks in early European trade following calls from industry leaders for a uniform slowdown in AI development. Equity markets reacted with concern to a weekend essay by Amodei, in which the Anthropic chief executive warned against a race to the bottom in the development of new AI models. Former President Barack Obama urged Democrats to prioritize developing a plan around artificial intelligence, saying that he would be doing that if he were running for President in 2028.

In remarks at a Democratic congressional campaign committee Fundraiser Thursday, Obama said that while he was neither an “Accelerationist” nor a “Doomer,” the AI bell is not one that could be unrung, and that Democrats ought to flesh out an agenda on the topic.

Reference Sources

1. dailymail - Will AI really kill humans? The scientists, tech bosses and developers who fear superintelligent bots will wipe us out - and those that think fears are overplayed
2. rappler - AI-linked Asian stocks slump after top lab CEOs call for slowing down technology’s development
3. nbc - Obama says Democrats should have a ‘very clear plan’ on AI policy
4. wsj - Chip Stocks Tumble After AI Leaders Call For Slowdown in AI Development
5. wsj - Oil Jumps, Nasdaq Futures Slide as AI-Related Stocks Tumble Worldwide

Z.AI Plans $5.0 Billion Fundraising to Fuel AI Expansion

Just as U.S. AI leaders are calling for a slower pace of AI model development, Chinese AI company Z.AI is moving in the opposite direction, seeking to raise more than US$5 billion in equity and debt to accelerate its artificial intelligence investments amid a global AI spending boom.

The company plans to raise nearly HK$15.68 billion (US$2 billion) through a share placement, along with another US$3.01 billion through zero-coupon convertible bonds.

Z.AI develops AI models that compete with those from OpenAI and Anthropic, underscoring how the global AI race continues to intensify even as some U.S. industry leaders raise concerns about the speed—and potential risks—of increasingly powerful models.

Reference Sources

1. wsj - Z.AI Plans $5.0 Billion Fundraising to Fuel AI Expansion

Surging inflation puts interest rates back in focus as policymakers meet in Japan, US and UK

The US Federal Reserve is set to go into a key rate-setting meeting this week, with markets expecting policymakers to pull the trigger on a rate hike to tackle persistently high inflation. The world’s largest economy has been dealing with years of higher-than-target inflation, and prices have surged in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s war on Iran, his signature tariff policies and the ongoing AI boom.

The Fed has held rates steady since January, choosing to wait to gauge the effects of energy price shocks and to let the tariffs’ effects on prices ripple through the economy.

Economists warned the Fed’s “credibility” was on the line if it did not back an increase on Wednesday after official figures showed no signs of the meaningful improvement the Fed chair said he would need to see to avert such a move.

But raising rates for the first time in three years just weeks before November’s Midterm elections risks provoking the ire of the President, who has made it clear he wants significantly lower borrowing costs.

The US will be most closely watched in the wake of a higher-than-expected core inflation reading last Friday. That stoked investor bets that Fed chairman Kevin Warsh and his colleagues will raise their benchmark rate, probably in defiance of President Trump’s demands.

Reference Sources

1. malaymail - Inflation fight puts Kevin Warsh on the line as US Fed decision looms over global markets
2. thestarmy - All eyes on Warsh
3. ft - Warsh and Trump on collision course as investors expect Fed to raise rates
4. usnews - Ahead of Fed Meeting, Trump Says US Should Have World's Lowest Interest Rate
5. theguardian - Surging inflation puts interest rates back in focus as policymakers meet in Japan, US and UK

The CommonWealth English daily news digest is a service curated by CommonWealth English team with the help of AI tools.  

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Uploaded by Ian Huang