AI Pace-Slowdown Debate Rattles Semiconductor and AI Value Chains
Over the weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's remarks calling for a slower pace of AI development weighed on US markets, sending the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbling 5.8%. AI, memory, server rack, and optical communications stocks fell in tandem, while Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff also posted a lengthy statement suggesting the need for a more measured pace.
The same day drew attention when President Trump placed a live phone call to an AI summit event attended by Nvidia's Jensen Huang, declaring that claims AI threatens humanity are fabricated and that AI represents a greater growth driver than oil, gold, diamonds, or the internet. It was also confirmed that the phone Jensen Huang used during the call was Samsung's latest Galaxy Fold, prompting domestic reactions describing it as a form of free promotion for the company.
The hosts laid out three counterarguments to the pace-slowdown thesis. First, that frontrunners OpenAI and Anthropic are using regulation to kick away the ladder and block followers from catching up. Second, that with Anthropic preparing for an IPO this year, warning that the AI it built is powerful and dangerous amounts to an ironic form of fear marketing. Third, that the argument frames a lack of confidence in the pace of improvement in upcoming models as a matter of safety.
Indeed, Anthropic reportedly signed a $13 billion computing infrastructure procurement deal with Lambda Group and continues to pursue fundraising ahead of a planned Nasdaq listing. Elon Musk also teased the unveiling of Grok 4.8, while China's state-run Global Times criticized Amodei's remarks as a Cold War-style tool aimed at securing US dominance over AI.
Despite the controversy, KOSPI absorbed the pace-slowdown debate as noise on the day, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rebounding 0.8% and roughly 1%, respectively. The hosts assessed that the rebound in Korean semiconductor stocks could, in turn, feed back into that night's US market, forming a reciprocal dynamic between the two markets.