Asian shares decline and OpenAI investor SoftBank shares plunge after
calls to slow AI industry
[September 14, 2026] By
CHAN HO-HIM
HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower Monday as shares of
AI-related stocks, including Open AI investor SoftBank, declined
following calls from Anthropic and OpenAI to slow AI development for
safety.
U.S. futures edged lower, while oil prices gained more than 2% as
worries grew over global oil supplies after Saudi Arabia shut down a
major oil pipeline used to help bypass the Strait of Hormuz after it was
attacked.
South Korea’s Kospi lost 3.3% to 6,684.37. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index slid
0.8% to 63,492.99. Shares of Japanese investment conglomerate SoftBank
Group, a key investor in OpenAI, plummeted 10.7% after OpenAI CEO Sam
Altman backed Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei in his calls over the weekend
that the AI industry should slow down to ensure its safety.
Altman also said in an interview with Fortune published Saturday that
his AI firm would not make its initial public stock offering this year
as it focuses on safety.
OpenAI and Anthropic are private companies, but both are expected to
list and be traded publicly in the months ahead.
SoftBank’s share price slide “probably reflects the possibility that AI
development may be slowed by regulators to try to avoid the worst case
outcomes that Anthropic and Open AI have discussed,” said Dan Baker of
investment research firm Morningstar. “And maybe also reflect the
possibility that any further examples of loss of control of newer AI
models could also slow AI development.”
Other AI-related stocks also fell on Monday. South Korea’s memory
chipmaker SK Hynix fell 6.4%. Samsung Electronics lost 4.1%. Japan's
chip equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron dropped 1%, while Japanese
memory maker Kioxia Holdings also sank 6.4%.
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.7%. Shares of Taiwan's leading AI chipmaker Taiwan
Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. dropped 1.2%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.4% to 24,904.46. The Shanghai Composite
index edged down less than 0.1% to 3,885.33. In Australia, the S&P/ASX
200 was up 0.1% to 8,749.90.
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A monitor shows the Nikkei 225 stock index in Tokyo Monday, Sept.
14, 2026. (Miyuki Saito/Kyodo News via AP)
 Oil prices moved higher early Monday
as U.S.-Iran tensions remained escalated while Iran-backed Houthi
rebels stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2.8% to $107.55 per
barrel. It was at roughly $72 a barrel before the start of the war
in Iran in late February.
Benchmark U.S. crude was up 2.9% to $102.90 per
barrel.
While the prospect of a de-escalation of war in Iran and the
reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil
transport, may have dimmed, wrote ING commodities strategists Warren
Patterson and Ewa Manthey in a commentary Monday, the situation is
still fluid and “sizeable” volumes of oil have still been moving
through the strait.
On Friday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 gained 0.9%, ending its
four-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1%,
and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 1%.
Investors are also monitoring this week’s Federal Reserve meeting,
in which Fed policymakers could raise rates as inflation remains
above the Fed’s 2% target.
Growing inflationary worries following the Iran war-caused energy
shock and rising U.S. government debt have fueled a sell-off of
government bonds and put pressure on U.S. Treasury yields.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury was at 4.96%, up from 4.95%
last Thursday despite the U.S. Treasury Department’s expanded
buyback operations meant to stabilize the bond market.
In other dealings, the U.S. dollar rose to 154.34 Japanese yen from
153.58 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1556, down from $1.1598.
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