US stock futures dropped sharply Monday morning after the CEOs of two major AI companies called for a slowdown in artificial intelligence development, rattling tech investors.
Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.5%. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.6%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid around 114 points, or 0.2%.
The selloff hit chip and memory stocks hard. Nvidia, Intel, Marvell, and Micron all fell in premarket trading. In Asia, Samsung and SK Hynix also dropped.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a 3,800-word essay over the weekend. In it, he argued that AI companies should slow down the pace of improving their models to better address safety risks, including loss of control over AI systems and economic disruption.
I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier. This has been a primary topic of discussions we've had at OpenAI in recent weeks.
Committing to having independent evaluators with employee-like access is a great idea, and we will do the same. We'll have more to share soon. https://t.co/1YhhIybZX7
— Sam Altman (@sama) September 12, 2026
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded quickly. He agreed with Amodei in an interview with Fortune, saying “Dario is right.” Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, echoed the same sentiment in a post on X.
The rare alignment between these AI leaders surprised markets. Wall Street has spent the past few years betting heavily on fast AI progress, and any sign of slowing that pace raises questions about future spending and growth.
Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid noted the stakes. “For markets, the key question is whether this is the first sign that the extraordinary AI investment cycle might eventually moderate,” he said.
The AI slowdown talk also brought IPO uncertainty back into focus. Altman told Fortune that OpenAI may push its IPO to 2027, later than previously expected.
Anthropic, on the other hand, still plans to go public this fall. The company has reportedly selected the Nasdaq for its listing.
Oil prices added another layer of pressure on Monday. Brent crude traded near $108 per barrel, up around 3%. West Texas Intermediate climbed 2.6% to about $102.67 per barrel.
The rise in oil came after Saudi Arabia shut down a key pipeline and as conflict in the Middle East continued to disrupt crude supplies.
All of this sets up a tense week for investors. The Federal Reserve holds its policy meeting on Wednesday.
Trader bets on a rate hike jumped to 86% after Friday’s inflation report came in hot. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh has said he will not offer forward guidance on future rate decisions, leaving markets uncertain.
The combination of AI slowdown fears, higher energy prices, and rate hike expectations made for a rough start to the week for stocks.
The post Pre-Market Update: Nasdaq Futures Drops After Anthropic and OpenAI CEOs Call for AI Slowdown appeared first on CoinCentral.
