US stock futures slide as AI safety warnings, oil prices weigh
Technology-heavy futures led declines as Anthropic and OpenAI executives urged a slower pace of AI development, while higher oil prices and rate-rise expectations added to pressure.
US stock futures fell on Monday as warnings from the leaders of Anthropic and OpenAI unsettled technology investors and rising oil prices heightened inflation concerns.
Nasdaq-100 futures declined 1.8%, while S&P 500 futures fell 0.8% and Dow futures dropped 0.2%, according to Yahoo Finance. Chip stocks, including Nvidia, led losses in technology futures, while shares of memory-chip makers SK Hynix and Samsung also fell in Asia.
Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei called for a slower pace of AI capability development to give safety measures time to keep up. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said he agreed, putting the companies’ calls for greater caution at odds with investor expectations of rapid progress.
Oil prices added to the pressure. Brent crude traded near US$108 a barrel, reportedly after Saudi Arabia shut a key pipeline and conflict in the Middle East spread. The source material does not establish the precise contribution of the oil move or the AI warnings to the futures declines.
Investors were also positioning ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Wednesday. Market-implied expectations of a rate rise increased to about 86% after Friday’s inflation data, which was broadly in line with estimates overall but showed core inflation running slightly hotter than expected on a monthly basis. The probability reflects market bets, not a confirmed decision.
Fortune reported that OpenAI’s initial public offering had been delayed until 2027. Anthropic was reportedly still planning a listing in the autumn and considering Nasdaq, though the companies had not confirmed those details in the supplied material.
