Shares of Japanese investment conglomerate SoftBank Group plummeted more than 10% on Monday, reflecting investor concerns following calls from leaders of OpenAI and Anthropic to slow the development of artificial intelligence for safety reasons.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have publicly stated their belief that the AI industry should pause or slow down to address potential safety risks. Altman also indicated in a recent interview that OpenAI would not pursue an initial public stock offering this year, shifting focus to safety protocols.
While both OpenAI and Anthropic are private companies, they are anticipated to go public in the future. Dan Baker, an analyst at Morningstar, suggested that SoftBank's stock decline may be linked to the possibility of regulatory intervention prompted by discussions around AI safety and potential loss of control over advanced AI models.
Other AI-related stocks in Asia also experienced declines. South Korea's SK Hynix fell 5.3% and Samsung Electronics lost 2.8%. In Japan, chip equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron dropped 0.9%, and memory maker Kioxia Holdings sank 6%.
Asian stock markets presented a mixed performance. South Korea's Kospi lost 2.5%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index slid 0.8%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.3%, and the Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.2%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 saw a modest gain of 0.1%, while Taiwan's Taiex fell 0.6%.
In commodities, oil prices rose more than 3% amid concerns over global supply. Brent crude, the international standard, increased to $107.94 per barrel, and U.S. benchmark crude climbed to $103.26 per barrel. These gains occurred as Saudi Arabia shut down a major oil pipeline following an attack, potentially impacting transit through the Strait of Hormuz. Analysts noted that while the immediate prospect of de-escalation in the region has dimmed, significant oil volumes continue to move through the waterway.
On Friday, U.S. stock markets closed higher, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.9%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbing 1%.
Investors are also anticipating the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting, where a rate hike may be considered due to inflation remaining above the central bank's 2% target. Persistent inflation concerns, exacerbated by energy price shocks and rising U.S. government debt, have contributed to a sell-off in government bonds and an increase in U.S. Treasury yields. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury stood at 4.98%.
In currency markets, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, trading at 154.06 yen, up from 153.58 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1570, down from $1.1598.