Wall Street Falls as AI Regulation Fears Hit Tech Stocks

After one hour of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.3 percent, the broad-based S&P 500 was down 2.4 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 3.8 percent.

AI-related stocks, particularly in the semiconductor and data centre sectors, were down. Nvidia fell 6.9 percent, Qualcomm fell 10.2 percent, Broadcom fell 7.2 percent and Oracle fell 5.7 percent.

Investors fear that Democratic gains in the House and Senate, combined with victories in key gubernatorial races, could lead to increased regulation of AI deployment across the country.