European tech stocks hit six-week low as calls for AI slowdown worry investors – business live

The UK government has welcomed the discussion among leading AI companies about safety, and the risks the technology poses to the future of humanity.

Andy Burnham's spokesperson told reporters:

“It's a good thing that the companies developing the most advanced AI systems are now talking openly about the risks as well as the opportunities.â€

European commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier has told reporters that the EU is in favour of developing innovation in artificial intelligence, but companies have to prove their services are safe for citizens to operate in the bloc.

US stocks exposed to the AI boom are set to drop when trading begins in two hours.

Chip stocks could be worst hit. In pre-market trading, Intel's stock is down 5.9% while Micron is on track for a 5.5% fall.

SpaceX, which owns the Grok AI assistant, is down 2.1% in pre-market trading.

Motor fuel prices across the UK have hit their highest level since the Iran war began, according to motoring body the RAC.

This follows the recent rise in oil prices, which are being passed onto customers through higher prices at the pumps.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams explains:

“Fuel prices hit new Iran War highs on Monday with petrol climbing 169.68p and diesel hitting 191.68p, surpassing Sunday's petrol high of 169.52p and the diesel high of 191.54p set on 15 April. This takes the cost of filling up a 55-litre family car with unleaded to over £93 and diesel to more than £105.

“Both fuels are now at prices last seen in early August 2022, just a few months after the start of the Ukraine War, following price rises of 8p a litre since the start of September. And with oil well over $100 a barrel, there's no end in sight to high pump prices and the pain it brings to drivers who depend on their vehicles. In fact, the average price of diesel may be on the way to overtaking the record high of 199.05p set on 25 June 2022. Petrol, however, is still a long way from its all-time record of 191.53p on 3 July 2022.â€

Here's a breakdown of the parts of the AI value chain that are vulnerable to a slowdown, from Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo:

• AI model developers: Launches may take longer, while spending on safety and testing rises.

• Advanced processors: Near-term orders may remain supported, but future demand could soften if companies run fewer large training programmes.

• Memory chips: This is one of the more vulnerable areas. Manufacturers are adding supply to meet very strong demand forecasts. If demand is delayed just as new production arrives, shortages could turn into excess supply and weaker prices.

• Data centres, power and cooling: Projects already underway provide near-term support. The risk would rise if major technology companies began cancelling future projects.

• AI use and adoption: Companies can continue using models that already exist. Demand for computing power to run those models—often called inference—may therefore remain strong.

• Cybersecurity and AI monitoring: These areas could attract more investment as companies spend more on independent testing, system controls and protection against misuse.

• Business software: The next winners may be companies that use AI to deliver clear productivity gains, rather than those simply spending the most on building larger models.

China‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has criticised the call from the head of Anthropic for a global slowdown on AI development.

Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a press conference:

“Fearmongering, confrontation and vicious competition will only disrupt the process of global AI governance which serves no one's interest.â€

In another sign of Beijing's position, China's state security minister Chen Yixin wrote in a government outlet on Sunday that advanced U.S. models such as Anthropic's Mythos and OpenAI's GPT-5.5-Cyber could pose serious risks to China's critical information ​infrastructure, and called for a comprehensive strengthening of AI security.

UK government borrowing costs are hitting new multi-year highs this morning, as the rising oil pride fuels inflation worries.

Reuters has the details:

• The 30-year gilt yield touched its highest level since March 1998 according to LSEG data at 5.951% and last stood 2 basis points up on the day.

• The 5-year yield rose to its highest since July 2008 and was up 6 basis points on the day.

These moves are bad news for chancellor John Healey, as they eat into his fiscal headroom – the cushion that helps the government meet its borrowing rules.

The dollar is strengthening this morning, as traders anticipate a hike in US interest rates later this week.

The US currency is up almost 0.5% against basket of rivals, knocking the euro down to a one-month low of $1.154.

The pound has slipped by 0.3% to $1.348.

Concerns that AI might be getting out of hand are worrying investors, confirms Saxo UK investor strategist Neil Wilson.

He writes:

Will AI kill humanity? I couldn't tell you but there seems to be sufficient alarm among those working on frontier models to worry investors. AI stocks fell Monday as leaders of the world's biggest AI platforms are calling for a slowdown in the development of their most advanced models on mounting concerns that it's all getting out of hand.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay over the weekend calling for a coordinated slowdown and safeguards. Elon Musk and Sam Altman agreed. This seems to have been prompted warnings from researchers, notably the resignation of Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon. Meanwhile, there are rumours Google might have made a breakthrough with recursive self-improvement, a process where AI systems enhance their own code and capabilities with little human help.

Whilst President Donald Trump is dismissive of the dangers posed, you get a sense that we may be at a turning point for the frontier development of AI. The problem is China. “Look, we're leading China in AI… and, frankly I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI, wins,†said Trump

Europe's technology sector has hit a six-week low this morning, as traders react to calls from the AI industry for a slowdown.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Technology index has dropped by 2.3% so far today, to its lowest since 31 July, after Anthropic's CEO called for the AI industry to “slow down†for safety reasons.

Soitec, the French semiconductor materials company, has dropped by 12.8% and is leading the sell-off, followed by Germany's Aixtron (-9.3%), whose systems are used to make microchips.

Semiconductor manufacturer Infinion are down 7.45%.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, says fears about AI becoming too powerful are now hurting the tech sector:

Previously a hot investment area with investors clambering to own any stock linked to the AI boom, now it looks like AI's strengths could backfire. There are growing fears that AI is advancing at an extraordinary pace and there need to be greater safeguards and controls in place.

“Futures prices imply that tech stocks are set for a bad day on the market. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index is expected to fall 1.4% when it opens for trading on Monday. In the UK, FTSE 100 tech fund Polar Capital Technology Trust was one of the biggest fallers in the blue-chip index.

“An AI-related sell-off doesn't create the best backdrop for Anthropic's planned IPO, which is already rumoured to be delayed by a month to November.â€

Here's our news story on the drop in AI company share prices today:

The high price of oil has pushed Latvian airline airBaltic to seek bankrupty protection.

AirBaltic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York this morning, as it tries to restructure its hefty debts.

AirBaltic, which is majority owned by the Latvian government, said it was using Chapter 11 to restructure its finances and raise capital while continuing day-to-day operations.

The process will not affect passengers and operations will continue as normal, airBaltic says.

Andrejs Martinovs, chairman of the supervisory board of airBaltic, says the airline hopes to create a “financially stronger airBaltic†with lower debts, explaining:

“We have carefully assessed the restructuring options available to the company, with one priority in focus – to give airBaltic the best possible basis to continue operating and to build a sustainable financial structure.

Under court supervision and with protection from creditor claims, this process provides a clear framework and timetable for reaching agreements with creditors, including aircraft lessors and other stakeholders. At the same time, it allows the company to continue operating

Oil is rising too – with Brent crude up 2.8% to $107.50 this morning.

Traders are anticipating further disruption to energy supplies from the Gulf, after Saudi Arabia's major pipeline to the Red Sea (avoiding the strait of Hormuz) was attacked by drones last week.

There's also turbulence in the energy markets again this morning, as the Middle East conflict continues to rage.

European gas prices have jumped by over 5% in early trading, pushing the month-ahead UK gas contract up to 209.50p per therm, its highest since late December 2022.

Dutch tech giant ASML's shares have slumped by around 4.5% in early trading, as traders react to last weekend's calls for an AI slowdown.

ASML is the world's leading supplier of photolithography systems – high-tech machines which use light to print microscopic circuit patterns onto silicon wafers – to the semiconductor industry.

Its machines have been hot property as chipmakers try to meet the insatiable appetite for high-powered chips to run data centres.