Major technology and artificial intelligence companies, including Nvidia, SpaceX and Tesla, suffered steep losses, dragging the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite down by more than 5.5% and erasing an estimated $2.5tn in market capitalisation according to Dow Jones data. Shares in firms across the tech and AI sectors plummeted as a market rout swept across the index, while other key US stock indexes also saw big losses.
The market sell-off was driven partly by concerns of tougher regulation following Democratic wins in key data centre states. Democrats in races across the US campaigned to slow the onslaught of data centres and AI. Following the election, some tech leaders noted they needed to put more effort into marketing data centres and artificial intelligence.
Speaking at the WSJ Tech conference in Napa, California on Wednesday evening, Meta's president Dina Powell McCormick said that the industry needed to put more effort into selling AI as a good idea. "I think we need to double and triple down on telling the story," she told the conference.
Alongside the immediate impacts of the elections, some investors have become concerned that AI shares could be in a bubble that is due a correction.
