AI giants jointly call for slowdown, semiconductor stocks plunge; OpenAI seeks $1.2T valuation; Fed FOMC 92% hike odds, BTC drops below $75K then rebounds, 115K+ liquidated.
After Anthropic CEO Amodei called for slowing AI development, OpenAI CEO Altman and xAI CEO Musk echoed the call — a rare alliance among three frontier labs. Microsoft simultaneously released an AI code of conduct. But tech investor David Sacks publicly opposed it, calling the slowdown push "anti-competitive." The clash between money and safety has pushed the entire industry into crisis.[1]
On Sept 14, AI slowdown news hit markets: Nvidia -3%, Arm -9.7%, ASML -7.2%, Micron -5.2%, Philadelphia Semiconductor Index -6%. SK Hynix -6%+, Samsung -4%+, Kospi -3.3%. But Alphabet +2%, Microsoft +1.6%, Meta +1.4% — capital rotated from hardware to application layer.[2]
FT reported Sept 15 that OpenAI is in early talks with investors for a new private funding round that could value the company at ~$1.2 trillion — a massive jump from its $122B raise in March. The potential round comes as revenue accelerates following GPT-5.6 and Astra model launches.[3]
OpenAI CEO Altman confirmed in a Fortune interview that the company will not go public in 2026, saying "given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public." Earliest consideration next year. This contrasts sharply with Anthropic's $2T IPO push.[4]
Google added Computer Use to Gemini 3.5 Flash — the model can control a computer interface (click, type, navigate apps) as an autonomous agent. This brings interface automation to Google's fastest stable model, directly competing with OpenAI Operator and Meta Muse.[5]
NVIDIA announced accelerated humanoid robotics development and expanded open-source CUDA-Q quantum computing platform on Sept 14. Perplexity Portable Computer launched on Windows, powered by NVIDIA RTX, executing multi-step agent tasks locally with sensitive data on-device. Local AI agents are emerging as a new trend.[6]
Amid the AI slowdown selloff, cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike surged 13%. Investors believe AI agent proliferation will greatly expand the attack surface, increasing cybersecurity demand. Capital rotated from AI hardware/infrastructure to security and application layer.[2]
Oracle faces high debt and cash flow pressure amid AI infrastructure expansion, trying to balance growth, debt, and cash flow. As AI slowdown calls rise, the sustainability of hyperscaler capex is questioned. CoreWeave -6.7%, AI cloud infrastructure sector under pressure.[7]
Fed FOMC meeting Sept 15-16, traders price 92%+ odds of 25bp hike, lifting fed funds rate from 3.50-3.75% to 3.75-4.00%. Hotter August core CPI supports hike. US 10Y Treasury yield broke 5%, first time since Nov 2023, pressuring risk assets.[8]
On Sept 15, BTC briefly fell below $75,000 then rebounded above $76,000 — a whiplash move liquidating nearly $100M in leveraged longs. Hike expectations and strong dollar pressured crypto. BTC had rallied from $60K in late August to $78K before renewed pressure.[9]
On Sept 16, crypto crashed across the board: BTC -4%+ holding $75K, ETH -5.38%, XRP -10%+, SOL -5%+. Over 115,000 traders liquidated in 24h. Risk-off sentiment ahead of FOMC, thin liquidity amplified volatility.[10]
On Sept 15, spot BTC ETFs ended a 4-day outflow streak with $159.9M net inflow. ETH ETFs attracted $121.1M. Institutions bought the dip ahead of FOMC, but prior 4 days saw $462M BTC ETF outflow — cautious overall stance.[11]
CLARITY Act faced key Senate vote; Republicans rejected Democrats' version, crypto regulatory legislation stalled again. Market had hoped for regulatory clarity, but bipartisan divide leaves outlook unclear. Regulatory uncertainty叠加 hike expectations further suppressed risk appetite.[12]
| Asset | Price (USD) | 24h Change | Market Cap (B) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | $76,200 | -4.2% | $1,525 |
| Ethereum (ETH) | $2,430 | -5.4% | $297 |
| Solana (SOL) | $96.80 | -5.1% | $44.6 |
| BNB | $572 | -3.2% | $83.3 |
| XRP | $0.542 | -10.5% | $29.7 |
| Dogecoin (DOGE) | $0.138 | -6.8% | $20.1 |
| Cardano (ADA) | $0.428 | -5.5% | $15.3 |
| Avalanche (AVAX) | $24.50 | -6.2% | $9.7 |
| Chainlink (LINK) | $15.90 | -5.4% | $9.4 |
| Polkadot (DOT) | $6.95 | -4.5% | $9.4 |
Macro tightening dominates, crypto volatile. Fed FOMC underway, markets price 92%+ odds of 25bp hike, 10Y yield broke 5%. BTC briefly below $75K then rebounded, 115K+ liquidated, XRP led -10%+. But BTC ETFs ended 4-day outflow with $160M inflow, institutions bought the dip, options turned bullish — betting on post-hike rebound.
AI slowdown call triggers industry earthquake, capital rotates from hardware to apps. Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI rarely united to call for AI slowdown, triggering semiconductor crash — Philly Semi -6%, Arm -9.7%, Nvidia -3%. But Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta rose, CrowdStrike +13%, capital rotated from AI hardware/infrastructure to application layer and cybersecurity. OpenAI simultaneously seeks $1.2T funding — money vs safety is the core industry conflict.
Near-term: watch FOMC decision and AI slowdown actual impact. If Fed hikes 25bp with dovish signal, crypto may see "sell the rumor, buy the news" rebound; if hawkish, BTC may test $70K support. On AI, whether slowdown calls translate to actual capex cuts remains to be seen — OpenAI funding and Anthropic IPO show capital still flowing. CLARITY Act setback means US crypto regulatory vacuum continues.
HiBlock Accelerator is an early-stage VC accelerator focused on deep tech and Web3, headquartered at Cyberport Hong Kong. The daily AI & Web3 report is produced by the HiBlock research team, covering core dynamics, data insights and trend judgments in global AI and blockchain.