‘INVESTORS ARE WORRIED THERE COULD BECOME A DEBT CRISIS’ — CHIPMAKERS SHED NEARLY $2 TRILLION IN A WEEK

A selloff in technology stocks and bonds intensified as high borrowing costs put the debt financing behind the AI infrastructure build-out under scrutiny, Reuters reported on October 15. CoreWeave's bonds sank to distressed levels and U.S. chipmakers shed nearly $2 trillion in market value since the previous week, while AI fundraising slowed and investors moved toward Treasuries despite hotter-than-expected inflation data.

Analysts quoted by Reuters framed CoreWeave as a proxy for other highly leveraged companies. Sam Stovall of CFRA Research said investors are worried there could become a debt crisis associated with these highly levered tech companies. Others questioned the speed, efficacy and profitability of the rapid build-out, or argued the episode was primarily a rates event, with CoreWeave simply the most leveraged expression of it rather than evidence that AI demand itself is cracking.