Morning Highlights: AI Startup's Stock Plummets After IPO; Anthropic and Nscale Deal

Shares of South Korean company Elice Group, which operates in the data center sector, plummeted by more than 30% on the first day of trading amid a sharp deterioration in investor sentiment toward the sector. British AI startup Nscale is close to finalizing a second multibillion-dollar deal with Anthropic, which could double Claude’s computing power procurement commitments. Nvidia announced plans to invest $10 billion in European AI companies, universities, and research organizations, including support for four German startups. Read about these and other topics in our roundup of key events as of the morning of October 20.

Shares of the South Korean company Elice, a provider of non-cloud services for data centers, rose 33% at the start of trading on the Seoul Stock Exchange. Prior to this, the company held a $151 million IPO, pricing its shares above the stated range, with the retail portion of the offering oversubscribed 400 times, according to Bloomberg.

The plunge in Elice’s stock price has jeopardized the emerging recovery in Asian stock markets, which had been supported by a rebound in U.S. chipmakers’ shares amid improving investor sentiment toward investments in artificial intelligence, the agency notes. Instead of bolstering confidence, the sharp drop in stock prices has reignited numerous concerns, particularly affecting companies operating in the data center sector.

South Korea’s Kospi stock index fell 3.5% at the opening bell on Tuesday amid a sell-off in chipmakers’ stocks, according to the Be(in)Crypto portal. The market’s gains since the start of 2026 have shrunk to about 31%, down from 116% at its June peak, from which the index has lost about 39%. In July, the KOSPI plummeted 22%, and from the beginning of October through October 16, it fell another 17%. Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell by 19.74% and 28.38%, respectively, during the first 16 days of October, the portal notes.

The publication notes that pressure on the market was exacerbated by concerns over AI infrastructure financing following the decline in CoreWeave bonds, as well as a sell-off by foreign investors. Another contributing factor was the forced liquidation of margin positions, which exceeded 50 billion won for four consecutive trading sessions.

British AI startup Nscale is close to finalizing a second multibillion-dollar deal with Anthropic that will double the computing power commitments made by the developer of Claude, the Financial Times reports, citing sources. The agreement calls for the construction of a second 460-megawatt data center in West Virginia under terms similar to the $45 billion contract signed in August. The deal could bolster investor confidence ahead of Nscale’s planned $35 billion IPO in New York, the newspaper notes.

The negotiations are taking place amid growing investor concerns about the financial stability of non-cloud providers. In the first half of 2026, Nscale posted a net loss of $1 billion on revenue of $141 million, the newspaper notes. Furthermore, the company has not yet secured funding even for its first contract with Anthropic, and the necessary construction permits are still pending. A new agreement could be signed in the coming weeks, but a final decision has not yet been made.

Nvidia has announced plans to invest in four German startups as part of a nearly $10 billion investment program targeting European companies, universities, and research organizations, according to CNBC. The companies in question are Agile Robots, a developer of industrial robots; Avelios Medical, a medical AI platform; Mirelo, a creator of sound generation models; and Reflex Aerospace, a satellite manufacturer. The amount of the investment in each company has not been disclosed.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that the country intends to become a leader in the implementation of AI in industry, mechanical engineering, and the automotive sector. Nvidia is also expanding its collaboration with the German government, and its partner Siemens has introduced AI solutions that can reduce the amount of engineering work required for production preparation by up to 85% and planning costs by up to 20%.

Apple has announced a new product launch event on October 28 in Los Angeles, according to CNBC. The invitation, featuring the slogan “Pro and tell,” suggests a possible announcement of devices in the Pro lineup with new in-house processors. Ben Ryces, an analyst at Melius Research, expects the release of new Mac computers, including Apple’s first touchscreen laptop, the network notes.

This presentation will be the third since John Turnus was appointed Apple’s CEO in September, indicating an acceleration in the release of new products. In the last quarter, Mac computers accounted for about 10% of the company’s revenue. Since the beginning of the year, Apple’s stock has risen 26%, outperforming the S&P 500 index.

The order book for the IPO of India’s Jio Platforms was oversubscribed more than 30 times, according to CNBC. Investors, including BlackRock, Capital Group, and Singapore’s GIC, submitted bids totaling 2.5 trillion rupees ($26.3 billion), while the institutional offering size was 81.1 billion rupees ($854 million). The company, backed by Meta and Google, plans to raise up to $3.2 billion in what would be India’s largest-ever IPO.

Jio Platforms placed 72.47 million shares with anchor investors at 1,119 rupees per share—the upper end of the price range. Participants also include Fidelity, JPMorgan Asset Management, and the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADIA. The main offering will take place October 21–23. Jio’s valuation at the IPO is approximately $108 billion, down from the more than $130 billion discussed a year ago.

— Japan's broad-based Topix index fell 1.4%, while the Nikkei 225 fell 1.3%.

— Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.2%, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index fell 0.9%.

— In South Korea, the KOSPI index fell 4.2%, and the KOSDAQ index fell 3.1%.

— Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.3%.

— Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.3%, S&P 500 futures were unchanged, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.2%.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor