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Fortune
Fortune
Business
Eva Roytburg

Microsoft’s $440 billion wipeout, and investors angry about OpenAI’s debt, explained

Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella (L), speaks with OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman, who joined by video during the Microsoft Build 2025, conference in Seattle, Washington on May 19, 2025. (Credit: JASON REDMOND—AFP/Getty Images)

Wall Street’s yearslong bet on AI is facing a severe test on Thursday, as investors might begin to view OpenAI—and generative AI in general—not as a catalyst for continuous growth, but as a source of systemic risk for Big Tech.

A sharp selloff in tech stocks on Thursday underscored investors’ exhaustion with the “spend now, profit later” model that has propelled the AI bull market for three years. Microsoft led the retreat, with its shares plummeting 12% by noon, erasing more than $440 billion in market value, a collapse it hasn’t seen since the pandemic. The Nasdaq was down almost 2% at time of writing. 

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