AI stocks crash as top lab CEOs demand emergency technology slowdown amid extinction fears

Technology shares across major Asian markets experienced a sharp downturn following coordinated statements from top artificial intelligence (AI) lab chief executive officers urging a deliberate slowdown in the development of advanced systems.

Industry leaders, including executives from Anthropic and OpenAI, publicly pointed to mounting safety risks, potential loss of control, and unprecedented security vulnerabilities as primary reasons to pump the brakes on the current breakneck pace of progress.

AI-connected stocks fell sharply in early Asian trading on Monday after the CEOs of the companies developing the most advanced AI models warned the pace of development must 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, said that they agree with Amodei.

The sudden market reaction hit major chipmakers and hardware suppliers particularly hard, as investors reevaluated the long-term trajectory and revenue sustainability of the artificial intelligence boom.

As reported, regional technology indexes in South Korea and Japan slumped significantly, reflecting deep investor anxiety over how potential regulatory bottlenecks, voluntary moratoriums, or a restructured development timeline could impact the massive global semiconductor supply chain tied directly to next-generation processors.

Market analysts noted that while major artificial intelligence firms frame the proposed slowdown as a necessary precaution for human safety and alignment, the sudden shift has introduced considerable uncertainty into tech-heavy portfolios.

Trading floors responded nervously to the prospect of reduced output velocity from top labs, leaving investors to weigh the financial implications of a market moving from aggressive expansion toward stringent self-regulation.

Companies affected by the change so far:

Shares in OpenAI investor SoftBank, tumbled as much as 13.2% as trading began in Japan alongside an initial 9.8% plunge for memory chipmaker Kioxia and a 3.7% decline for chip supply chain company Tokyo Electron.

In Taipei, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, slipped 1.2%, while in South Korea SK Hynix slid 5.3% and Samsung Electronics fell 3.7%.

In Shanghai, memory chipmaker CXMT, dropped 2.7%, while Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation fell 1.4%.

In Hong Kong, Zhongji Innolight shed 4.1%, while Minimax, fell 5.4%. Shares ⁠of Z.ai, the developer of the GLM AI series, also tumbled as much as 10.5% after making a discounted share placement.

"Selling pressure is likely to hit AI and semiconductor-related stocks in Tokyo following a series of weekend comments calling for a slowdown in the pace of AI development," Takayuki Miyajima, senior economist at Sony Financial Group, said in a note.

"Additionally, uncertainty surrounding the situation in the Middle East continues to weigh on sentiment."