An AI Halloween Market Scare

Which had a worse end of the week—the Binance crypto exchange or the tech-heavy Nasdaq? Disappointing earnings reports triggered a selloff in tech and AI shares, while Binance reported hackers pilfered $6.3 billion.

Markets have lately been jittery owing to concerns about AI costs and risks, and geopolitical uncertainty. Throw in the U.S. midterm elections next week, and stock prices are no longer blowing through bad news. Google’s Alphabet plunged 14% between Thursday and Friday, erasing some $500 billion in market value.