US tech stocks tumble as investors fret over AI spending

Tech-heavy Nasdaq falls 2.6 percent as debate rages over whether AI is a bubble.

A general view shows the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, in the United States, on October 16, 2026 [Yuki Iwamura/AP]

US tech stocks have dropped sharply amid market jitters over the sustainability of companies’ enormous capital investments in AI.

The Nasdaq Composite, which is dominated by tech firms linked to the AI boom, fell 2.6 percent on Thursday, its steepest fall since the index tumbled 4.2 percent on June 5.

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The broader S&P 500 slid 1.21 percent, the benchmark’s biggest drop since a 1.52 percent decline on July 29.

Apart from Apple, each of the “Magnificent 7”, which make up more than one-third of the overall market, saw substantial losses.

Meta dropped nearly 7 percent after it raised its projected capital spending for this year to $135bn to $145bn in its latest earnings report, even as the Facebook parent company’s net profit fell short of expectations.

Amazon fell 4.6 percent, while Nvidia dropped 4.4 percent.

Tesla and Alphabet both fell 3.1 percent, while Microsoft declined 2.2 percent.

Apple rose 1.2 percent.

The sell-off extended to other major tech players, including Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, both of which fell about 8 percent, and Broadcom, which slid 4.3 percent.

Rising oil prices since February, due to the fallout of the US-Israel war on Iran, added to the downbeat mood.

Brent crude futures rose 4 percent on Thursday and continued to climb on Friday morning, taking the international benchmark above $114.20 a barrel, its highest since May.

Stocks slip in Asian trading

Major stock markets in Asia opened lower on Friday, following the losses on Wall Street.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell more than 2 percent in morning trading before recovering some ground, while South Korea’s KOSPI dropped as much as 3.5 percent.

The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong fell about 0.5 percent.

Jay Goldberg, a senior analyst at Seaport Research Partners in San Francisco, said the swings in the market appeared to be driven more by sentiment than underlying fundamentals.

“In short, nothing has changed. Investors have just decided to be afraid this week. Everyone I speak to points to a different cause for the downfall … It’s just a giant wall of worry,” Goldberg told Al Jazeera.

“There are legitimate concerns about the AI trade, but this level of shift in the markets is driven much more by investor sentiment than any tangible reason.”

US tech companies’ huge investments in AI have stoked intense debate about whether a market bubble is forming similar to the one that preceded the 2000 dot-com crash.

While some Wall Street analysts view current levels of investment in datacentres and graphics processing units as unsustainable, others argue that AI will revolutionise society to a degree that justifies the eye-watering sums involved.

Global AI investment is forecast to reach $2.7 trillion in 2026 and $3.6 trillion in 2027, according to technology insights company Gartner.

由于关于人工智能是否存在泡沫的争论愈演愈烈，科技股为主的纳斯达克指数下跌了2.6%。

2026年10月16日，美国纽约证券交易所的交易大厅全景。[Yuki Iwamura/AP]

由于市场对企业在人工智能领域巨额资本投资的可持续性感到担忧，美国科技股大幅下跌。

纳斯达克综合指数周四下跌 2.6%，这是自 6 月 5 日该指数暴跌 4.2% 以来的最大跌幅。该指数主要由与人工智能热潮相关的科技公司构成。

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标准普尔500指数下跌1.21%，这是自7月29日下跌1.52%以来的最大跌幅。

除了苹果公司之外，占据整个市场份额超过三分之一的“七大巨头”均遭受了重大损失。

尽管Facebook母公司Meta的净利润低于预期，但该公司在最新财报中将今年的预计资本支出上调至1350亿美元至1450亿美元，导致Meta股价下跌近7%。

亚马逊股价下跌 4.6%，英伟达股价下跌 4.4%。

特斯拉和Alphabet股价均下跌3.1%，微软股价下跌2.2%。

苹果股价上涨1.2%。

抛售潮蔓延至其他主要科技公司，包括英特尔和AMD，这两家公司的股价均下跌了约8%，博通的股价也下跌了4.3%。

自2月份以来，由于美以对伊朗战争的后果，油价不断上涨，加剧了市场低迷的情绪。

布伦特原油期货周四上涨 4%，周五上午继续攀升，国际基准价格突破每桶 114.20 美元，创下 5 月以来的最高水平。

亚洲交易时段股市下跌

受华尔街股市下跌的影响，亚洲主要股市周五开盘走低。

日本基准日经225指数早盘下跌超过2%，之后有所回升；韩国KOSPI指数一度下跌3.5%。

香港恒生指数下跌约0.5%。

旧金山海港研究伙伴公司高级分析师杰伊·戈德堡表示，市场波动似乎更多地受到市场情绪而非基本面的影响。

“简而言之，一切都没有改变。投资者只是在本周选择了恐慌。我跟每个人交谈，他们都对下跌的原因给出了不同的解释……这简直就是一堵巨大的担忧之墙，”戈德堡告诉半岛电视台。

“人们对人工智能交易确实存在一些合理的担忧，但这种程度的市场转变更多是由投资者情绪驱动的，而不是任何实际原因。”

美国科技公司对人工智能的巨额投资引发了激烈的争论，人们担心市场泡沫是否正在形成，类似于 2000 年互联网泡沫破裂前的泡沫。

尽管一些华尔街分析师认为目前对数据中心和图形处理单元的投资水平是不可持续的，但另一些人则认为人工智能将彻底改变社会，其程度足以证明所涉及的巨额资金是合理的。

据科技洞察公司 Gartner 预测，全球人工智能投资额将在 2026 年达到 2.7 万亿美元，在 2027 年达到 3.6 万亿美元。