'Tech carnage': Nasdaq plunges 2.2% at the open as AI spending fears threaten the pensions and ISAs of British savers
A Google DeepMind promotional screen introducing Gemini, the AI brand whose new Gemini 4 Carbon model Sundar Pichai unveiled just before Alphabet's earnings call as its shares tumbled over 10%.A two-week Alphabet share-price chart, sourced from Yahoo Finance, showing the plunge that wiped $500 billion from the company's value after profit collapsed 25% to $26.2 billion.
Intel shares are set to open around 25% lower on Friday — wiping roughly £90bn off its value — while Amazon faces a predicted 7% drop worth some £140bn, after both reported massive cash burns that deepened a global tech rout. Alphabet had already shed more than 12% on Thursday, its worst single day in over 20 years, erasing close to £400bn. Global markets have lost around $3 trillion since AI spending fears took hold, with a run of grim earnings reports driving the sell-off across Wall Street, Asia and beyond.
A host of US tech giants are now in 'bear market' territory, down more than 20% from their peaks earlier this year.
South Korea's Kospi fell 5.4% and Japan's Nikkei slumped nearly 3%, led by chip stocks including Advantest, down 9.1%, and Ibiden, down 15.2%.
The FTSE 100 edged up 0.2% on Friday morning, sheltered by its limited exposure to AI — but British pension and ISA holders remain heavily exposed through global tracker funds.
