AI-linked Asian stocks slump after top lab CEOs call for slowing down technology’s development

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. The artificial intelligence AI acronym at the 10th edition of the VivaTech technology startups and innovation fair in Paris, France, June 18, 2026.

Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

AI-connected stocks fall sharply in early Asian trading after the CEOs of companies developing the most advanced AI models warned the pace of development must slow to prevent threats to humanity

AT A GLANCE

• AI-connected stocks experienced a decline in early Asian trading following warnings from CEOs about the need to slow AI development to mitigate risks to humanity.
• Concerns about AI's potential dangers have intensified, with calls for regulation from US lawmakers and discussions on AI safety between the US and Chinese governments planned for this month.

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SINGAPORE – AI-connected stocks fell sharply in early Asian trading on Monday, September 14, 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.

Altman later said OpenAI would not proceed with an IPO this year, citing safety concerns.

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%.

“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.”

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.

San Francisco-based Anthropic released a threat intelligence report on Thursday detailing how several actors had used its Claude AI models for activities ranging from weapons development and cyber operations to surveillance and fraud.

Alarm about the potential harm from AI grew this week when Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned, stating that the “people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.”

OpenAI’s Altman said in an interview that risks of human extinction posed by AI were “unacceptable”.

And while several US lawmakers have raised concern about AI’s rapid progress and called for new rules, US President Donald Trump on Sunday likened AI critics to “very negative forces” bringing up scenarios that will not happen, and said he wanted to make sure that the US remains the industry leader.

AI-related trades have powered much of the gains in global equities since OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022, but more recently cyberattacks by rogue AI agents and public discontent with data center construction have raised opposition to the development of the industry.

The US and Chinese governments are expected to hold AI safety talks as part of bilateral discussions taking place this month, according to two people briefed on the plans. – Rappler.com