[Edaily Reporter Kwon Oh Seok ] As global Big Tech executives raised concerns about “slowing down AI (artificial intelligence) development,” investor sentiment cooled sharply—particularly among major semiconductor stocks—causing the KOSPI to close down more than 3%.

According to MP Doctor on the 14th, the KOSPI opened at 6,692.61, down 217.30 points (3.14%) from the previous trading day, and closed at 6,684.37, down 225.54 points (3.26%). Although the index partially recovered its intraday losses, it was unable to withstand selling pressure from foreign investors and extended its decline. During regular trading hours that day, retail investors were the only net buyers in the KOSPI market, with net purchases totaling 2.9722 trillion won, while foreign and institutional investors recorded net sales of 3.2875 trillion won and 1.1715 trillion won, respectively.
The decisive trigger for this market decline was the coordinated call by the heads of major global AI companies to “slow down the pace of development.” The CEOs of four companies leading the cutting-edge AI market—Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceX AI, and Google DeepMind—unusually spoke with one voice, agreeing that the pace of AI development must be moderated.
Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, likened the progression of AI development to a curve following the sequence “1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32” in a CBS News interview aired on the 13th (local time), diagnosing that we are currently at the stage where that curve is beginning to steepen. “There’s no need to panic right now, and there’s no need to shut everything down,” he said, “but this is nonetheless a warning sign that we need to slow down.”
Leaders of rival companies unanimously echoed this warning. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, stated via X, “I agree with Dario that we need to moderate the pace of Frontier and will appoint independent evaluators.” In an interview with Fortune, he also hinted that the company would not pursue an initial public offering (IPO) this year.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, and Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, also expressed their support, calling it “the right direction.” The leaders of the four major tech companies—who have long been locked in a fierce race for dominance—spoke with one voice within a single day about the risks of AI technology and the need to slow down.
Analysts suggest that concerns over an AI bubble and runaway technology—which had previously driven the global stock market rally—acted as negative factors for the broader market that day. During regular trading hours that day, SamsungElectronics(005930)traded at 249,000 won, down 10,500 won (4.05%) from the previous trading day, while SK hynix(000660)traded at 1,697,000 won, down 115,000 won (6.35%).
Of course, some analysts in the securities industry advise against overinterpreting this negative news as a sign of excessive market volatility. Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at DaishinSecurities, explained, “The key factor behind today’s sharp decline is the controversy over moderating the pace of AI development,” adding, “This is not about halting AI development, but rather about adjusting the pace of development and safety verification; we should be cautious about overinterpreting this as a slowdown in the investment cycle.”
He further elaborated, “This means that the pace of development—not the pace of investment—needs to be adjusted, and this requires aligning development speed with the strengthening of security systems, including ethical considerations.”
Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ index opened at 806.27, down 14.37 points (1.75%) from the previous trading day, and closed at 806.79, down 13.85 points (1.69%).