SoftBank shares plunge as calls grow to slow AI development
AI development should slow down, leading developers have warned, as the industry faces growing calls to put safety ahead of profits. The comments weighed heavily on technology shares on Monday.
Shares of Japanese investment firm SoftBank Group experienced a significant drop of over 10% on Monday, alongside other tech stocks, following the endorsement of cautious AI development from prominent AI executives. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged fellow AI companies to prioritize "caution over speed and prudence over profit" in a bid to pace the creation of their most advanced models.
This prompted concerns about "recursive self-improvement," a scenario where AI systems contribute to the development of subsequent generations of AI models.
Notably, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and xAI CEO Elon Musk publicly supported Amodei's warning, with Musk echoing his views. However, OpenAI CEO Altman announced that the company would postpone its initial public offering this year, shifting focus towards safety measures. Both OpenAI and Anthropic, another privately owned AI firm, are reportedly gearing up for potential stock market listings in the coming months.
The developments come in the wake of Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon's resignation, who expressed concerns about the technology's potential to surpass human control. A fellow researcher at Anthropic, Evan Hubinger, even suggested a probability greater than 10% that AI could ultimately cause human extinction within the next decade.
Reacting to the warnings, US President Donald Trump dismissed the critics as "very negative forces," asserting that the scenarios raised by AI experts would not occur. House Speaker Mike Johnson similarly cautioned against panic. Nevertheless, these concerns resulted in a sell-off of technology shares, with SoftBank's decline likely linked to potential regulatory interventions aimed at curbing the worst-case consequences of AI, as noted by Dan Baker of Morningstar.
Additionally, other AI-related shares in Asia, including SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, also witnessed declines, while Tokyo Electron and Kioxia Holdings saw minor drops. Amodei further emphasized the need for tighter restrictions on China's access to advanced AI chips and semiconductor-manufacturing equipment, although he acknowledged the challenge of China's potential non-participation in a coordinated slowdown.
China's state media criticized Amodei's stance as "short-sighted" and accused him of attempting to limit China's advancement through an "AI Cold War." Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the establishment of a BRICS open-source AI zone to foster collaboration on AI models and training.
Written by urgent.news from Euronews's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
