
How the AI trade went from market savior to saboteur
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Artificial intelligence may still be in its infancy, but this mainstay of the stock market rally now has investors worried it will be its downfall. Investors suddenly see numerous areas of tech and other sectors are vulnerable to AI and its big funding needs, leading them to look elsewhere.
While the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both closed lower on Tuesday and Wednesday, it was the tech-centric Nasdaq that felt the worst pain. Part of the concern came from a Wall Street Journal report that Nvidia’s deal to provide ChatGPT owner OpenAI with up to $100 billion could be on the rocks, given a funding delay. Another issue is fear that Anthropic’s AI model Claude, which now offers Claude Cowork and Claude Legal, potentially represents a threat to existing companies in those areas, such as LegalZoom, Thomson Reuters, and ServiceNow.
On the surface, neither of these seem particularly worrisome. Nvidia refuted the reports about OpenAI and said it had until the second half of the year to fund the deal. Moreover, the promised productivity gains from AI products like those Claude is offering have been a big part of the bull thesis around the technology.
Yet as with a Batman villain, there is more than what meets the eye. Fears that the Nvidia-OpenAI agreement is fraying reflect broader anxiety about how AI companies will come up with the vast amounts of investment needed to continue innovating. OpenAI alone has committed to spend $1 trillion.
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