Growing calls for an AI slowdown, many from within the industry itself, sent shockwaves through markets Monday and sank AI-related stocks. Over the weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a lengthy essay arguing the industry must deliberately slow how fast it improves model capabilities.

- Advertisement -

Within a day, Sam Altman and Elon Musk both said publicly they agreed. When markets opened Monday, Wall Street read those calls as bad news for the chips powering the AI boom.

Nvidia fell as much as 3%, Intel dropped more than 5%, and AMD sank about 6%. Marvell Technology lost as much as 7.5%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index sank almost 6%.

But not everything crashed. Bitcoin climbed as high as $78,280, up nearly 2% since midnight UTC and about 4.8% below this month’s $82,284 record.

Ethereum added 2.1% to trade near $2,514, and XRP gained 3.3%. Total crypto market capitalization grew about 1.5%.

- Advertisement -

The strength extends a pattern that has played out for weeks. Bitcoin was knocked down to $76,877 during Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s hawkish Jackson Hole speech in late August, then bounced back above $80,000 on September 3 after Fed Governor Christopher Waller signaled support for holding rates steady.

Progress on U.S. crypto legislation gave sentiment an extra push. The odds of Congress passing the Clarity Act in 2026 jumped to 31% on Polymarket over the weekend after President Trump agreed to updated ethics provisions.

The Senate holds a cloture vote Tuesday, and with Republicans controlling 53 seats and at least two expected to vote no, backers likely need close to nine Democrats to reach the 60 votes required.

✅ Follow BITNEWSBOT on Telegram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X.com, and Google News for instant updates.