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Semiconductor shares slumped Thursday as the AI investment debate shifted toward the customers funding the buildout. Reuters reported a Financial Times account that OpenAI’s annualized revenue was below the level the company had previously indicated.
The same Reuters report cited The Wall Street Journal’s account of financing being arranged for OpenAI by Broadcom, with Oracle also seeking funding. Those were attributed media reports, not financing terms independently verified by AEA.
Crude rose on Middle East supply concerns and disruptions to US output. The Nasdaq recorded the steepest decline among the major indexes, the S&P fell more modestly and the Dow managed a small gain, according to Reuters’ late account.
The stories converged around a single dependency: suppliers’ future sales rely on customers’ ability to finance and monetize large commitments. Strong demand for equipment can be genuine while the financing structure supporting that demand becomes harder to sustain. Thursday put that distinction at the center of trading.