Top Stories This Morning: Zuckerberg and Huang Oppose Slowing Down AI; Oil Prices Fall
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Oil prices are falling further following data showing a rise in U.S. inventories: Brent dropped to $107.5 per barrel, and WTI to $104.2, while the market continues to monitor the risks of supply disruptions in the Middle East. Mark Zuckerberg and Jensen Huang spoke out against slowing the development of artificial intelligence for the sake of safety. Read about these and other topics in our roundup of key events as of the morning of September 16.
Oil prices fell 1% amid rising U.S. inventories
Oil prices fell on Wednesday following data showing an increase in U.S. fuel inventories. November Brent futures fell 1.1% to $107.5 per barrel, while October WTI futures dropped 1.4% to $104.2. According to the American Petroleum Institute, U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 7.1 million barrels over the week, compared with expectations of a 1.6-million-barrel decline.
Meanwhile, traders continue to monitor the situation in the Middle East following Iran’s attack on the Saudi East-West oil pipeline, according to CNBC. U.S. officials expect the pipeline to remain shut down for several days, but market participants acknowledge that repairs could take months.
Zuckerberg and Huang Oppose Slowing Down AI Development
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang have spoken out against slowing the development of artificial intelligence in the name of safety and imposing additional restrictions on the industry, according to CNBC. Zuckerberg stated that trust and AI’s alignment with human values are themselves becoming key competitive advantages, and that companies have an interest in reducing risks due to potential liability for harm. Huang, for his part, called additional AI regulation “completely unnecessary” and emphasized that the pace of development and safety are not mutually exclusive.
The heads of Anthropic and OpenAI took a different stance. Dario Amodei called for slowing down the development of the most powerful AI models, while Sam Altman stated that safety and oversight should take priority over expanding their capabilities and supported closer industry coordination on safety issues.
The White House is discussing the risks of AI with Anthropic amid disagreements
Senior officials from the Donald Trump administration discussed the risks associated with artificial intelligence with Anthropic, Bloomberg reports, citing sources. Tom Brown, Anthropic’s director of computing infrastructure, held an online meeting with Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Latnik.
The talks took place amid renewed disagreements between Anthropic and the White House following a call by the company’s CEO, Dario Amodei, to slow the development of the most powerful AI models and strengthen their regulation. Trump criticized this initiative, stating that slowing down AI development would play into the hands of U.S. competitors.
Anthropic has leased a data center in Australia for the first time
Anthropic has signed its first data center lease agreement in Australia, sources told Reuters. The project involves a 2.16-GW campus located approximately 250 km from Brisbane, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2027. The project is being developed by Singapore-based Zerra DC.
The data center will run on renewable energy and be used for AI model inference, but not for training. The deal still needs to be approved by the Australian foreign investment regulator.
SK Hynix Reaches Agreement with Union on Bonuses
SK Hynix has reached an agreement with the union on a new bonus payment plan, resolving a dispute that could have led to production disruptions, according to Bloomberg. About 57% of union members supported the agreement, under which 50% of bonuses under the profit-sharing program will be paid in cash and the other 50% in company stock.
SK Hynix had previously proposed a 40-to-60 split in favor of stock, which sparked discontent among employees. The company supplies Nvidia and other chipmakers with HBM memory, which is used in AI accelerators.
What's Happening in the Markets
— Japan's broad-based Topix index rose 0.6%, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.3%.
— Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index remained virtually unchanged, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index rose 0.3%.
— In South Korea, the KOSPI rose 0.7%, while the KOSDAQ fell 0.4%.
— Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3%.
— Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.3%, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.2%.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
