Tech stocks face $1 trillion rout as AI spending doubts grow

Technology stocks plunged Friday, putting the Nasdaq 100 index on track for a more than $1 trillion drop, its worst one-day decline since mid-June. The sell-off was driven by disappointing quarterly earnings from Amazon and Intel, with the S&P 500 also falling over 1.7%. Amazon fell 3% after reporting faster-than-expected AI spending and slowing core retail growth, while Intel plunged 30% on weak profit and sales forecasts. Investors are increasingly skeptical about whether massive AI investments are delivering returns, a shift from three months ago when such spending was rewarded. The losses follow Alphabet's $500 billion market value wipeout Thursday, its worst day ever. Intel's decline also dragged down chip and memory sector indexes, while the U.S. government, now Intel's largest shareholder, saw its stake's value grow 280% despite the drop.