Stocks Sink on Anxiety About Tech and A.I. Spending

Stocks around the world tumbled on Friday, dragged down by a sell-off in the big technology companies developing artificial intelligence after signs of increasing competition from China intensified investor unease around eye-popping spending on A.I.

The SP 500 fell 1 percent, taking its loss for the week to 1.6 percent, led lower by the biggest tech companies. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index declined 1.4 percent. Stock markets in China, Japan and across Europe also fell.

Signs of investor concern were most apparent in the Philadelphia Semiconductor index, a benchmark for the computing industry that includes A.I. titans like Nvidia and Micron, which dropped 1.6 percent on Friday, adding to losses over the past month. The index is down more than 20 percent from its high in June, crossing the threshold for what’s called a bear market — an indicator of significant investor concern.

Nvidia, the giant chip maker, fell 1.9 percent on Friday, briefly dragging its market valuation below Apple’s as the two jostle to sit on the perch as the world’s most valuable company. Alphabet, the parent of Google, declined 2.5 percent, and Meta was down 3 percent. SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and A.I. company, dropped 5.5 percent after falling earlier this week below $135, its initial public offering price set last month.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/business/stocks-ai-tech-wall-street.html