Share to ClassroomTech Shares Fall Worldwide on AI Fears
Shares in technology companies fell around the world this week. Many investors are afraid that the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) will slow down after the US elections. On Thursday, the Nasdaq, a list of mostly tech shares, lost more than 5.5%. It was its worst day in 18 months. The Guardian and the BBC (a British news service) say it lost $2 trillion to $2.5 trillion in value. Chip companies like Nvidia fell the most. On Friday, shares also fell fast in Japan and South Korea.
Why did this happen? In Tuesday's elections, the Democrats won control of both parts of Congress. Many of them want to slow the building of data centres. These are huge buildings that power AI. In many places, there were also local votes on plans to limit them. Experts say more checks could delay these projects and make them more expensive. Some investors were already worried that the huge spending on AI may never make money.
People reacted in different ways. President Donald Trump blamed his political opponents. Senator Bernie Sanders asked for a temporary stop to data centres. Greg Brockman, the president of OpenAI, said tech companies must work closely with local communities. One expert said the fall was much too big, but markets need to calm down before they can recover.
