SoftBank lost 10.7% in one day after the AI slowdown calls
Po / Money and Products desk
The first trading day after the AI industry asked to slow down put a price on the request. SoftBank shares lost 10.7 percent.
The numbers from Tokyo
On September 14, 2026, SoftBank Group closed at 5,839 yen, down 701 yen or 10.7 percent, after falling as much as 13 percent during the session. The damage was concentrated enough to move the whole market: that one stock pulled the Nikkei 225 down by about 563 points, and the index closed 518 points lower at 63,492.99. Other AI names in Asia fell too, including SK Hynix.
Why SoftBank took the hit
The selloff followed a weekend in which Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for pacing frontier AI development and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he would delay taking OpenAI public until at least 2027.
SoftBank is the shareholder with the most riding on the second statement. The company has committed $64.6 billion to OpenAI for a stake of about 13 percent, according to TECHi, and a later OpenAI IPO pushes back the moment that stake becomes listed, tradable stock. A slower development pace also cuts against the growth assumptions that underpin the valuation of the bet.
Safety talk is now a market event
The labs asking for a slower pace are funded by investors who priced in speed. The reaction in Tokyo is the clearest measurement so far of what a slowdown is worth to those investors: on the first trading day after the essay, the market marked one of AI’s biggest backers down by a tenth. Whether the pacing proposals go anywhere, AI safety statements from lab CEOs now move stock prices, which changes the incentives around making them.
Sources
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