Shares linked to artificial intelligence fell in several markets after prominent industry figures called for a slower pace of development, The Guardian reported. Investors were reassessing the value of companies driving the AI boom and questioning whether rapid infrastructure expansion could be sustained if deployment slows.

Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei urged the industry to “slow down,” saying that building AI too quickly was reckless and warning that a swarm of AI agents could cause extensive damage by taking over parts of the internet. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Elon Musk backed the call, according to The Guardian, although some AI experts disputed Amodei’s claims.

The market reaction spread across Asia and the United States. South Korea’s KOSPI fell 3.7% early in trading, while SK Hynix dropped 5.75%. SoftBank fell as much as 13% in Tokyo after Altman said OpenAI would not go public this year; SoftBank owns a stake in OpenAI. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company declined 1.2%.

US technology shares also weakened. The Nasdaq was down 1.2% at the start of trading, while Marvell Technology fell almost 7%. Astera Labs declined 9.3%, and Arm Holdings, Intel and Micron were also reported lower. The Guardian said traders were assessing whether slower AI deployment would reduce demand for chips and data-centre connectivity.

The debate raised broader concerns about financing. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote, said leases, debt and power commitments would remain even if expected computing demand and revenue growth slowed. She warned that credit risks could grow for highly leveraged data-centre operators and lenders exposed to projects built on aggressive assumptions about future AI demand.

The Guardian also reported that the anticipated valuation of OpenAI in IG’s pre-IPO market fell from about $1.64 trillion to $1.57 trillion. UK officials welcomed open discussion of AI risks, while European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said companies seeking to operate in the EU must demonstrate that their services are safe for citizens.