Calls for a slowdown in artificial intelligence development sparked a global sell-off in technology stocks on Monday, as investors fretted over the sustainability of spending in a sector that has driven financial markets to record highs. 

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slumped roughly 1% in early trading, with the broader S&P 500 falling 0.6%. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6%.

Adam Crisafulli, head of investment advisory firm Vital Knowledge, said “pick and shovel” stocks, which represent companies that supply AI infrastructure and resources, are getting hit hardest. 

“Markets are trying to figure out what the pace [of AI development] is, and there will be winners and losers depending on what that pace is,” David Royal, chief financial and investment officer at financial services provider Thrivent, told CBS News.

“I’m not too alarmed by what we’re seeing today, but you are seeing some individual names in the chip space that are getting hit pretty hard,” he added.

Investors are reacting to comments from leaders of major AI companies who said the industry should proceed more cautiously in developing AI to guard against potential risks, Wall Street analysts said.

The warnings intensified after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay over the weekend calling for the industry to “pace the frontier.”

“For too long the industry lied” about AI risks, Amodei told CBS News senior business and technology correspondent Jo Ling Kent in an interview. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, which owns xAI, and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, echoed Amodei’s calls for a slowdown.

Is the AI bubble hissing air?

Investments in AI have been the main growth engine for the stock market, helping it notch a succession of record highs. Now, investors worry that billions of dollars in AI capital expenditures will outpace corporate profits, leading to a stock downturn. 

Stock market performance has become increasingly concentrated in a handful of tech companies, with any major tech sell-off threatening to hurt investors and drag down Americans’ 401(k) plans.

Some Wall Street analysts think the AI-fueled market rally has more room to run in the near term, but faces mounting risks in the long term. Investment adviser Capital Economics forecasts the S&P 500 to hit 8,250 by year-end. But the firm also expects what many investors see as an AI bubble to burst next year, leading to a more than 20% drop in the S&P 500 by the end of 2027.

Crisafulli said he is concerned about the pace of AI spending. However, if we do see a sharp slowdown in AI CapEx, it won’t necessarily lead to a complete market downturn, he added.

“I think it’s more nuanced than just bubble, no bubble,” he said. “This pace of spending is absolutely not sustainable. But that doesn’t mean everything that is associated with AI has to suffer as a result.”