Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Dario Amodei want AI slowed as tech stocks tumble. Is your retirement fund overexposed?

Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below.

The CEO of Anthropic, one of the most valuable pure-play AI companies in the world, has some reservations about AI.

In a post (1) to his personal website, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for companies to slow the development of increasingly capable AI models so safety measures can catch up. After listing some of the potential future benefits of AI — including his belief that it could "cure most major diseases" — Amodei acknowledged that it also "brings risks."

Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one

A single line on your car insurance policy could be inflating your premium by up to 30% — here's what to change

A record 45% of central banks plan to grow gold reserves — and many investors are following suit. Get your free gold IRA guide from Priority Gold

"Because it is such a powerful technology, these risks are serious," he added.

According to Amodei, some of these risks include loss of control over AI, severe economic disruption and even cyberattacks and bioterrorism.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman backed the proposal (2). He also said in a separate interview (3) that OpenAI, another giant in the AI space, wouldn't go public in 2026, calling it an "ill-advised moment" given the industry's safety challenges.

Additionally, SpaceXAI founder Elon Musk offered what appeared to be his concise endorsement (4) of the proposal on X: "Dario is right."

After the calls for a slowdown, AI-linked shares fell worldwide (5) on Sept. 14. Nvidia fell 3.4%, while major OpenAI investor SoftBank Group plunged nearly 11% in Tokyo.

That sell-off exposed a vulnerability hiding in millions of retirement accounts: Even investors who have never deliberately purchased an AI stock may have a sizable portion of their savings riding on the technology's continued expansion.

Your index fund may contain more AI exposure than you realize

Owning an S&P 500 index fund spreads your money across hundreds of companies, but it doesn't divide that money equally.

The index is weighted by market capitalization, giving its largest companies the greatest influence. For instance, Nvidia alone represented roughly 8% of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (6) as of Sept. 11. Apple represented another 7.4%, followed by Microsoft at 5.6%.

The fund's 10 largest holdings accounted for approximately 38% of its value. Most are heavily involved in developing AI, supplying its infrastructure or incorporating it into their businesses.