Intel loses 30% in a day, fears grow over artificial intelligence bubble

Intel shares lost 30% of their value on the stock market on Friday, the worst session in over 50 years, after quarterly results estimates fell below expectations. The crash comes precisely as doubts multiply over the sustainability of the investment boom linked to artificial intelligence, and becomes the concrete data point around which the uncertainty phase of global equity markets is being measured.

The nervousness is intertwined with preparations for OpenAI’s stock market debut, the company that owns ChatGpt, expected on Wall Street in the week of November 16 with an offering aiming to be the largest in the history of financial markets. According to reports, OpenAI has scaled back its fundraising targets ahead of the listing, a signal that adds to the climate of caution following Intel’s slump.

On the front of global competition, data cited by Milano Finanza indicate that in 2026 Chinese investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure will be about one-sixth of those in the United States. Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai has acknowledged the limited investment capacity of major Chinese tech companies compared to their US counterparts, an admission that comes precisely as markets question the sustainability of American spending plans in the sector.

The picture that emerges is one of a sector in which high valuations of tech stocks coexist with concrete signs of fragility: on one hand the crash of a historic group like Intel, on the other OpenAI’s caution in the phase preceding its listing. The gap between Chinese and US investments, equal to about one-sixth according to the cited data, remains a further element by which markets gauge the relative strength of global players in the sector.

None of the available data has yet resolved the central question: whether the pace of spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure is sustainable over time, or whether Intel’s crash is the first sign of a broader correction.