US tech stocks see sharp falls over AI cost fears

ByRachel Clun Business reporter, Reporting fromNew York. 30 October 2026, 14: 50 GMT.

Key points

• The bigger losses on Friday were elsewhere, with Intel on track to lose more than $130bn in value after its earnings update rattled investors.
• Shares in Amazon recovered slightly from the overnight fall but were still down regarding 1.6% in Friday trading.
• Amazon shares fell as far as 6% before recovering after its documented earnings on Thursday evening fell short of investors' expectations.
• Alphabet stock continued to fall in early trading, down 1% after Thursday's massive slide.
• As its daily active user numbers dropped, stock in online game platform Roblox additionally fell, down by almost 20%.

US stocks have continued to slide as reservations continue to intensify over the increasing costs of the artificial intelligence (AI) build out.

Shares in Intel continued their overnight slide into early trading on Friday, falling as much as 30% after the chip maker cautioned of a weaker computer market even as it aims to growth spending on AI.

As other tech stocks including Reddit and Roblox continued to fall, the tech-heavy Nasdaq stock exchange opened on Friday at its lowest level in more than two months, down 2.5%.

Meanwhile, the losses follow the value of Google owner Alphabet plunging by more than $500bn on Thursday after it made public its own AI summaries were affecting its core search advertising revenue.

For context, the bigger losses on Friday were elsewhere, with Intel on track to lose more than $130bn in value after its earnings update rattled investors.

On Thursday, Intel's finance chief David Zinsner remarked the firm did not expect to bring in more cash than it spent this year, and forecast lower-than-expected revenue for its fourth quarter.

"Looking ahead, we see the PC slowdown continuing at least through the first half of next year, " he remarked in the chip maker's third quarter earnings report.

In the earnings call, he remarked the firm had significantly ramped up investment in equipment in the third quarter and anticipated that to be "even more significant" in the after three months.

Amazon on Thursday made public the business was additionally spending more cash that it was making, and that spending had climbed six-fold over the span of three months.

After the social media platform made public weaker-than-expected daily user figures and cautioned that Google's growing AI-driven search was hurting referral traffic, reddit stock was down by 26%.

For context, a number of major tech firms have noted earnings this week, including Microsoft, and analysts noted there were questions concerning the payout from the massive investments in AI.

Chris Low, from investment management firm FHN Financial, remarked the bulk of what was happening in the stock market was in reaction to some of the biggest tech players such as Amazon and Google.

He informed Reuters the businesses were "showing some pretty significant growing pains as they aggressively pursue the AI build-out".

"The thinking is that these signs suggest that the entire sector is going to slow down."

Taken together, the developments around US tech stocks see sharp falls over AI cost fears point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.