While Asian tech stocks took a beating on September 14, Bitcoin did something interesting: almost nothing. BTC slipped a modest 0.5% to roughly $76,800 even as SoftBank Group shares plunged 13% and OpenAI pushed back its hotly anticipated initial public offering. The catalyst was a fresh wave of anxiety over AI safety, but Bitcoin apparently didn’t get the memo.
What triggered the selloff
The proximate cause was a chorus of AI industry leaders calling for a slowdown in development. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI’s Sam Altman both publicly urged a more tempered approach to AI advancement in mid-September, raising questions about timelines, regulatory risk, and the sustainability of the sector’s breakneck growth.
SoftBank, which has bet heavily on AI through its Vision Fund portfolio, saw its stock drop 13%. OpenAI’s decision to delay its IPO added fuel to the fire. The ripple effects spread across semiconductor and AI-heavy equities. Energy stocks tied to AI data center buildouts also felt pressure, with some names in the sector declining 7% to 10%.
A decoupling year in the making
