The story

Nvidia fell 5% on Monday after reports emerged that the company was discussing about $250 billion in financing guarantees for an OpenAI data center and separate talks involving financing up to $350 billion in OpenAI chip purchases. The figures raised concerns that AI spending is becoming increasingly dependent on suppliers supporting their own customers' expansion. Nasdaq futures declined Tuesday as chip stocks continued to slide, with Nvidia down 1.1%, Micron Technology dropping 4.6%, and Applied Materials declining 3.5%.

The selloff spread to global markets. South Korea's KOSPI dropped nearly 10% and triggered a circuit breaker, while Japan's Nikkei fell 4.4%. European chip stocks also came under pressure, with ASML sinking 8.5% after a report that China had begun producing its own immersion deep ultraviolet lithography machines. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has fallen more than 20% from the record high it reached in June.

Investors are questioning whether technology companies can continue heavy AI infrastructure spending while maintaining profitability. Concerns have emerged that major technology firms, including Alphabet and Tesla, may be reaching the limits of their financial capacity to sustain massive AI investments. Markets will closely watch earnings reports later this week from Amazon, Meta, Apple, and Microsoft, which have committed hundreds of billions of dollars to AI infrastructure.