OpenAI, Arm, Qualcomm, Box executives react to concerns of medium-term stock declines

As Wednesday’s post-midterm bull market turned sharply lower on Thursday, tech executives sought to thoroughly examine the idea that potential data center constraints could have a devastating impact on their businesses.

Stocks initially rose on Wednesday after Democrats swept Congress and won a sizable number of state governors and Congress in Tuesday night’s midterm elections, marking their best day in more than 18 months as President Trump accepted the fiasco results without much fuss.

But the tide quickly turned on Thursday, sending stocks plummeting as investors worried about a potential slowdown in data center construction and whether artificial intelligence trading had passed its peak following victories for data center regulatory candidates in Texas and other states. Tech stocks led the sell-off, with the Magnificent Seven losing more than $1 trillion in market capitalization.

Stocks recouped some of their losses on Friday.

Here’s how tech executives reacted to interim results and the threat of stock sales.

Haas characterized post-election anxiety as “very short-term thinking” and unlikely to pose a major threat to the public. arms But he said the United States needs to continue investing in data center expansion before the rest of the world catches up.

“Even if the U.S. balks in any way, shape or form when it comes to building data centers, the rest of the world is ready and willing. There’s just a huge demand for this capacity,” Haas said Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Streets.”

Friar told CNBC’s Sarah Eisen on Friday that OpenAI will continue to invest in data center infrastructure after voters flatly rejected backyard data centers during the midterm elections. The company will also focus on community concerns such as electricity. “We will never raise your electric bill,” Frier said.

“As we think about the interim period, we need to continue to think about how we continue to invest to meet customer demand. That starts with building relationships with all the hyperscalers in the early stages, and that will mean continuing to raise capital,” Friar said.

“If the medium term means a greater focus on data centers and communities, we will continue our efforts to enter and build trust in those communities.”

Amon said uncertainty about the future of data center construction is not a major threat to chipmakers’ businesses because data center infrastructure is just one segment. Qualcomm The stock plunged 9.49% on Thursday, but recovered some of its losses on Friday.

“The overall market is down, but I think Qualcomm’s story is a little different,” Amon told CNBC’s John Fort on Thursday. Unlike traditional PC and data center chip makers, Qualcomm has historically focused on low-power computing. “The story of Qualcomm is what we did outside of that for data center-specific issues.”

Levy said on “Squawk on the Street” Thursday that productivity gains mean AI is “clearly moving in one direction,” but said the tendency for industry messages to coalesce around “Doomerism” could exacerbate the public perception problems facing AI companies.

“I think it’s probably a little bit easier to pivot to a more risk-oriented message, and that’s something that our industry clearly needs to work on. But ultimately, obviously consumers need to see the direct benefits, and that’s just going to take time,” he said. of the box Mr. Levi.

Risher said he is not worried about weak market sentiment. of the lift Business remained strong as consumer sentiment and bookings remained strong.

“I don’t get too focused on the short term of what’s going on in the market. For example, if you look at the consumer, we had the biggest Halloween ever,” Risher said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”