Wall Street look set to hit the buffers as tech sector takes fright amid AI concerns

US stock futures sank on Monday after the two leading frontier artificial intelligence companies called for an industrywide slowdown in AI development, sending tech stocks tumbling.

Futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell 1.5%, led by losses in chip stocks including Nvidia. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 0.3% and S&P 500 futures fell 0.6%. In Asia, memory chip makers SK Hynix and Samsung declined.

The sell-off followed a 3,800-word essay from Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei, who argued over the weekend that AI companies should slow the pace of improving their models to address safety concerns. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman agreed in a post on X, putting the two labs at odds with a Wall Street that has banked on rapid progress.

Altman also told Fortune that OpenAI has delayed its stock market debut until 2027. Anthropic still plans to list this autumn and has reportedly chosen the Nasdaq.

Oil added to the pressure, with Brent crude trading near $108 a barrel after Saudi Arabia shut a key pipeline. Attention now turns to Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting, with bets on a rate rise having spiked to 86% after Friday's inflation report.