Applied Materials Falls 6% as AI Slowdown Call Triggers Broad Chip Equipment Selloff

Applied Materials shares fell roughly 5.8% to 6% on Monday, September 14, touching $430 in pre-market trading, as semiconductor equipment stocks sold off sharply after prominent artificial intelligence executives called for a slower pace of AI development. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay over the weekend urging AI companies to slow the pace of improving their models, citing safety concerns. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk both said they agreed with Amodei, amplifying the market reaction.

Because chip equipment makers depend heavily on the AI-driven capital spending cycle that has powered their 2026 rallies, the pacing call hit the group hard. Lam Research fell about 6%, ASML sank roughly 5% to 6%, and South Korea's SK Hynix dropped 6.4%. Nasdaq 100 futures slid as much as 1.8% at the open, and Nvidia fell 3%, while Arm Holdings and Marvell each declined around 6%. SoftBank, invested in OpenAI, closed nearly 11% lower in Japan, and South Korea's Kospi fell 3.3%.

Applied Materials had rallied sharply into this selloff, with shares up approximately 98% year to date before Monday's decline. The stock underperformed its peers on the day relative to its prior close. The broader concern for chip equipment names is that any sustained moderation in hyperscaler and foundry AI capital expenditure would reduce demand for wafer fabrication equipment, an area where Applied Materials, Lam Research, and ASML have all seen record orders and rising order visibility through 2027.