Which had a worse end of the week -- the Binance crypto exchange or the tech-heavy Nasdaq? Disappointing earnings reports triggered a selloff in tech and AI shares, while Binance reported hackers pilfered $6.3 billion.
Markets have lately been jittery owing to concerns about AI costs and risks, and geopolitical uncertainty. Throw in the U.S. midterm elections next week, and stock prices are no longer blowing through bad news. Google's Alphabet plunged 14% between Thursday and Friday, erasing some $500 billion in market value.
Google's advertising revenue during the latest quarter undershot investor expectations, raising worries that AI may be cannibalizing its search engine. Search ads are a key source of Google revenue, which it has used to fund its AI build-out. If more people use AI large-language models for search, that could reduce Google's income and make it harder and costlier to fund its AI ambitions.
There are also lingering concerns that Google may struggle to monetize its own large-language model Gemini and AI search tools to the degree it has traditional search. But on the bright side, revenue from Google's cloud unit doubled from a year earlier from increased demand for its AI tools and custom chips, which could pose a competitive threat to Nvidia and its high-cost chips.
Intel had an even worse day than Google, with the chip-maker's stock price plunging 29% on Friday. AI was indirectly to blame. Surging demand from hyperscalers like Google and OpenAI has driven up prices for memory chips and, consequently, devices like PCs and smartphones. This is hurting the market for PCs, which run on Intel's legacy chips.
Amazon's stock on Friday also took a header after the company reported higher than expected capital spending on AI and negative cash flow. This amplified market concerns that the AI build-out is proving more expensive than anticipated. More evidence? Meta this week floated $25 billion in new shares while Microsoft announced a $25 billion bond offering.
While the Meta and Microsoft offerings drew strong demand, investors are nervous that the payoff from AI investments won't be enough to financially sustain them. At some point hyperscalers may have to pull back, which could hurt the entire AI ecosystem. That might hit chip makers like Nvidia and Micron Technology that are currently churning out huge profits.
This in large part explains the routs in other AI-related stocks, which dragged the Nasdaq down 3% on Friday. A correction was probably inevitable given the waves of capital that have been pouring into any company claiming to have an AI angle.
Speaking of routs, Binance late Thursday reported that hackers had stolen $6.3 billion in stablecoins and other digital assets from the exchange's digital wallets. Binance is the world's largest crypto exchange, and this is the biggest known crypto heist in history.
Binance suspended withdrawals and said it plans to tap an emergency reserve fund and company assets to keep customers whole, though it's not clear how long this could take. And here the crypto crowd has assured us that stablecoins are safe. No need to worry if crypto exchanges promising hefty yields draw deposits from banks, they say. Look ma, no risk. Apparently there is.
The possible AI link here is that the technology is making it easier for cyberhackers and thieves to penetrate even systems long thought to be safe. North Korea, the suspected Binance hacker, might have been able to break in without AI. But the Binance hack came amid a spate of other cyberattacks. If it isn't already, every business in America needs to ramp up its cybersecurity defenses.
None of this is cause for regulatory panic, but government can do more to alert private actors about threats and how to defend and respond. The era of AI euphoria is ending, in favor of more caution, and that means there will be more market weeks like this one.
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