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US technology companies faced a selloff on October 30: Intel shares fell nearly 30%, while Alphabet lost about $500 billion in market value (t.me). Investors are questioning whether multibillion-dollar investments in artificial intelligence and data centres will pay off.
Which companies were hit
Alphabet lost that amount in a single trading session. This was a drop in market capitalisation—the market’s valuation of the company—not the amount spent on developing artificial intelligence.
Reddit, Roblox, SanDisk and Arm also fell. The size of their losses was not reported, so the available figures do not allow a comparison between their share price declines and Intel’s.
Why investors are questioning AI spending
The selloff was attributed to doubts about returns on investments in AI and data centres. The concern is whether this multibillion-dollar spending will deliver sufficient returns.
Companies’ financial results are a separate aspect of this story. raem.kz previously covered quarterly earnings from Alphabet and other tech companies.
How large was October’s decline
According to Reuters, as cited by ER10, October’s decline in the Nasdaq-100 put more than $2 trillion in the index’s combined market capitalisation at risk. This estimate should not be treated as losses already incurred: the wording refers to value at risk.
