AI Warnings Weigh on Stocks Despite Oracle Growth

Global equities and U.S. stock futures declined Monday as investors reacted to calls from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others to slow development of advanced AI systems because of safety risks. Nasdaq 100 futures fell roughly 1.4% to 1.8%, South Korea’s Kospi dropped about 3.3%, and chipmakers, SoftBank and other AI-linked companies led losses, while Australia’s market was broadly flat. Oil rose more than 2% above $107 a barrel after attacks, Saudi Arabia’s closure of its East-West pipeline, Gulf shipping disruptions and postponed talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz heightened supply concerns; the 10-year Treasury yield approached 5%. Markets placed roughly 87% to 90% odds on a Federal Reserve rate hike this week after hotter-than-expected August inflation, despite debate over whether the move is economically necessary or mainly intended to meet market expectations. Oracle’s fiscal first-quarter revenue rose 30% to $19.35 billion, cloud-infrastructure revenue increased 121% to $7.4 billion and new AI-cloud contracts exceeded $30 billion, briefly supporting U.S. futures and demand for AI infrastructure. Altman said OpenAI would not pursue a 2026 IPO, while analysts said the debate could redirect investment toward AI safety, governance, audits and compliance rather than substantially reduce infrastructure spending.