Nvidia affair causes shares to collapse

There's a lot going on for Nvidia's shares at the moment - first of all, the ongoing doubts as to whether the AI ​​bet will work. Then the surprisingly clear victory of the Democrats in the US midterm elections, many of whom expect greater regulation of the industry.

And now the alleged espionage affair surrounding Nvidia boss Jensen Huang, which is hitting the industry in the middle of a real crisis of trust. Nvidia shares fell by up to six percent in pre-market US trading today.

Several shadows over the industry

Doubts have been simmering since the summer as to whether the enormous investments in artificial intelligence will pay off. Added to this is the prospect that interest rates will continue to rise, making the industry's billions in loan-financed expenditure significantly more expensive.

These concerns were only recently dispelled somewhat in view of further gigantic deals and the announced IPO of the AI ​​provider Anthropic. The Nasdaq technology exchange even reached new record highs at the beginning of October.

Since the midterms last week, the industry has found itself in a new political environment. Leading Democrats have already spoken out against building more data centers and greater control of AI.

Extensive network

And in the middle of this industry stands Nvidia - a company whose high-performance chips make enormous computing power possible and which, with its numerous financial connections in the AI infrastructure, is considered an icon of the entire industry.

The chips from Nvidia, one of the most valuable companies in the world with a market value of $4.5 trillion, dominate in data centers when it comes to training and operating artificial intelligence. The company from Santa Clara in Silicon Valley has also established an extensive network in the AI ​​world to promote the expansion of the AI ​​infrastructure.

To do this, Nvidia invests part of its billions in profits through investments, loans and guarantees in numerous AI start-ups, which in turn use them to buy the company's chips.

Will the “AI godfather” be replaced?

CEO Jensen Huang himself made a name for himself as the face of AI change: at Nvidia conferences and other public appearances, he tirelessly preached the world-changing role of artificial intelligence in all areas of life.

At a time when there is a lot of speculation about the expansion of data centers, the alleged espionage affair is in no way beneficial for Nvidia shares, said Chris Weston, head of research at broker Pepperstone in Melbourne. However, he does not believe that Huang, whom he described as the "godfather of AI," will be replaced.

Lots of open questions

The fate of Nvidia shares is closely linked to that of the entire AI industry. After the share price has fallen by over a quarter since the record high at the beginning of October, much of the worst expectations are probably already reflected in the price. This means that soon hard facts, rather than speculation, could determine what happens next with the stock - and the entire technology market.

The following questions are likely to be crucial here: Will the mood remain good enough for the Anthropic IPO to go ahead as planned this month? Is there really an attempt at stronger AI regulation at the federal level in the United States? And to what extent will the numerous projects to build additional data centers be limited at the state level?

There are many open questions, but the consequences of the Huang affair are likely to play the most pressing role.

DAX is recovering