Amodei's slowdown call sinks SoftBank 13.2% and Kioxia 9.8%

The selloff follows a weekend in which warnings about AI development risks came one after another: Amodei's Sept 12 essay, published as concern about AI misuse was mounting, was echoed on X by Musk and Altman, while Anthropic researcher Jacob Koxson resigned warning that people developing AI seriously believe it could wipe out humanity by the end of the decade. SoftBank, which invests in OpenAI, fell as much as 13.2% in Japan, Kioxia as much as 9.8% and Tokyo Electron 3.7%, with TSMC, SK Hynix and Samsung also down across Asia. Sony Financial Group senior economist Takayuki Miyajima said in a report that selling pressure on Tokyo AI and semiconductor shares is likely to be strong given the weekend statements.

The political backdrop is split. Several US lawmakers are pushing for new regulation over rapid AI progress, while President Trump framed AI critics as a "very negative force" and said he wants the US to remain the industry leader. The two sides are also entangled internationally: the US and Chinese governments are expected to discuss AI safety as part of bilateral talks this month, even as the state-run Global Times editorialized against Anthropic's essay, calling it a "Cold War manual" to hold back China's technology development.

For investors, the split is about what the warnings actually mean. Some, like Saxo Bank's Charu Chanana, see the warnings as a near-term drag on AI and semiconductor shares. Others, like T. Rowe Price's Sebastian Murray, say there is little doubt AI will change the world, but that does not guarantee every investment being made today will produce attractive returns — so the outcome hinges on who eventually captures the returns on today's capex.