The article reports on market movements driven by a call for an artificial intelligence slowdown from major tech leaders and geopolitical tensions affecting oil markets.
According to the report, a coordinated statement was issued by Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic; Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI; and Elon Musk, CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SPCX). The executives stated that, out of safety concerns, the development of AI frontier models should be slowed. This announcement triggered a selloff in the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF (NYSE: SOXL) during the early trade, with the fund pulling back below a technical support level.
The report notes that despite the warnings, slowing down AI development faces significant hurdles, including competition between labs, pressure to generate returns, and momentum for existing data center projects. The article also highlights that political rhetoric surrounding the issue is complicating the narrative ahead of the midterm elections.
Separately, the article reports on a disruption in the oil market. Fighters based in Iraq attacked the East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia, forcing the facility to shut down. The pipeline is used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and carries approximately seven million barrels of oil per day. This attack occurred as a meeting between Gulf countries and Iran was postponed due to a lack of consensus. Consequently, Brent crude has risen above $108 per barrel, and WTI crude has exceeded $104 per barrel.
In terms of stock flows, the early trade showed positive money flows for Apple Inc (AAPL), Alphabet Inc Class C (GOOG), Microsoft Corp (MSFT), and Meta Platforms Inc (META). Conversely, money flows were negative for Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), NVIDIA Corp (NVDA), and Tesla Inc (TSLA), as well as for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 (QQQ).
