AI Replacement Panic Reignites, Nasdaq Plummets 2%, Liquidity Squeeze Triggers Major Dive in Gold and Silver

Eastern Time Thursday (February 12), the panic over AI replacement continues to escalate, with all three major U.S. stock indices falling sharply. The Nasdaq dropped over 2%, Apple plunged 5%, and its market value evaporated by approximately $200 billion overnight. The sharp decline in U.S. stocks triggered a sell-off across risk assets, also affecting the precious metals market. As traders sold metals to cover losses in the stock market, liquidity squeezed gold and silver, causing gold to fall below $5,000 and silver to plunge.

【U.S. Stock Indices】

At the close, the S&P 500 fell 1.57% to 6,832.76; the Dow Jones dropped 1.34% to 49,451.98; the Nasdaq declined 2.03% to 22,597.15.

This year, due to continuous evolution of AI tools, market concerns have grown over the potential disruption or replacement of certain industries. Starting from software stocks, spreading to wealth management, then to real estate, and now to logistics companies, investors worry that AI will optimize freight operations and cut into some revenue streams. Trucking and logistics firms like C.H. Robinson saw their stock prices plummet 14%. Meanwhile, higher unemployment rates are expected to dampen office space demand, with stocks like CBRE and SL Green Realty also declining.

Investors are panic-selling sectors that could be replaced by AI, whether it’s using chatbots for freight matching or algorithms replacing real estate agents. Any business model susceptible to “AI-ization” faces valuation reevaluation.

Analysts note that investor sentiment toward AI—whether positive or negative—is very tense. Currently, they are more focused on its disruptive potential.

Additionally, some analysts believe the U.S. stock market is in a highly dangerous “negative gamma” state. After the S&P 500 broke below the critical support of 6,950 points, market makers were forced to chase the decline, intensifying downward pressure, and the index again fell below the 50-day moving average.

Goldman Sachs traders warned that the risk is not just in the sell-off itself but in the “complete lack of willingness to buy,” which could turn any sector’s decline into a collapse.

The sharp decline in U.S. stocks also triggered a liquidity squeeze in the precious metals market, as some traders sold metals to cover stock losses. Macro strategist Michael Ball said the decline was likely amplified by the selling of commodity trading advisors (CTAs) betting on price trends using computer models.

Nicky Shiels, head of metals strategy at MKS PAMP SA, believes that margin call notices likely worsened the sell-off, forcing some investors to exit large commodity positions, including metals, to provide liquidity. Everything happened too fast, resembling a “de-risking” move. During extreme market stress, safe-haven assets like gold are also sold by investors desperate for liquidity.

Notably, Apple was among the worst-performing tech stocks last night, falling 5%, erasing its gains for the year, and losing about $200 billion in market value overnight. Media reports previously indicated that Apple’s long-planned upgraded Siri faced setbacks again, with some AI features possibly delayed until May or later.

【U.S. Treasury Bonds】

Amid the AI panic-driven tech sell-off, safe-haven inflows into U.S. Treasuries pushed yields down across the board. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield closed at 4.112%, and the 2-year yield sensitive to Federal Reserve policy was at 3.456%.

【Popular U.S. Stocks】

Among popular stocks, Nvidia fell 1.64%, Apple dropped 5.00%, Google C declined 0.63%, Google A down 0.63%, Microsoft fell 0.63%, Amazon declined 2.20%, TSMC dropped 1.63%, Meta fell 2.82%, Tesla declined 2.62%, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) fell 3.58%, and Intel dropped 3.75%.

On the news front, Google has again become subject to EU antitrust investigations over concerns of illegal manipulation in search engine ad pricing.

OpenAI released its first AI model based on Cerebras Systems’ semiconductor chips, GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark.

Google’s parent company Alphabet announced an upgraded Gemini 3 “Deep Think” reasoning model, available to Google AI ultra subscribers and some API users, targeting applications in science and engineering.

【Global Indices】

In Europe, the FTSE 100 in the UK declined slightly by 0.67% to 10,402 points. France’s CAC 40 rose slightly by 0.33% to 8,341 points. Germany’s DAX was nearly flat, down 0.01% at 24,853 points.

In Asia, the Hang Seng Index fell 0.86% to 27,033 points. The China Enterprises Index dropped 1.00% to 9,175 points. The Nikkei 225 closed near unchanged.

【China Indices】

On February 12, overnight, the Hang Seng Tech Index futures fell 1.60%, the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index declined 3.00%, and the FTSE China A50 Index dropped 0.36%.

【Chinese Concept Stocks】

Popular Chinese stocks: Tencent Holdings (HK) down 2.28%, Alibaba down 3.45%, Pinduoduo down 4.16%, NetEase down 0.28%, Baidu down 4.64%, Ctrip down 6.01%, Li Auto down 2.08%, Xpeng Motors down 2.24%, NIO down 2.27%.

【Forex and Commodities】

Ahead of key CPI data releases, the US dollar index traded sideways before closing up 0.09% at 96.925.

Due to traders selling metals to cover stock losses, spot gold plunged intraday, with London gold ending down 2.7% at $4,921 per ounce; spot silver fell more sharply, briefly breaking below $75 per ounce, with London silver closing down 9% at $75.2 per ounce.

As traders weigh geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran and IEA’s downward revision of global oil demand forecasts, international crude oil prices declined. WTI crude oil accelerated its decline in the US session, falling below $63, ending down 2.79% at $62.83 per barrel; Brent crude fell 2.67% to $67.55 per barrel.

【Headlines】

U.S. Stock Drop Sparks Algorithmic Metal Selling?

On Thursday, spot gold briefly fell 4.1%, and silver plunged 11%. Amid renewed concerns over whether massive AI investments can be effectively implemented at scale, US tech stocks tumbled. Analysts suggest that metal prices suddenly dropped under suspected algorithmic trading sell-offs, forcing some investors to exit large commodity positions, including gold and silver, to raise liquidity.

Google Gemini 3 Deep Thinking Model Major Upgrade Sets New Record, Aiming at Scientific and Engineering Applications

Without tool assistance, this model achieved 48.4% accuracy on the “Last Human Exam” (HLE) benchmark and 84.6% on ARC-AGI-2; by 2025, it is expected to reach gold medal levels in the written portions of the International Physics and Chemistry Olympiads. Google states the new model advances discovery and helps researchers solve “unsolvable” problems—from identifying flaws in research papers to optimizing semiconductor crystal growth.

AI Disrupts Freight Industry, Russell 3000 Trucking Index Drops 9% Intraday

Algorhythm, an AI tech company, released a white paper claiming its platform can reduce truck idle miles by over 70% and increase freight volume by up to 400% without additional operators. With industry fundamentals still unhealed, concerns from this report became the “last straw,” causing industry leader C.H. Robinson to plunge over 20% intraday.

Tech Reporter Gorman: Apple Expected to Launch iPhone 17e and M4 Chip iPad Air in Coming Weeks

Tech journalist Mark Gorman reports, citing Apple retail staff, that iPhone 16e inventory is nearly exhausted, and shortages are appearing for the current iPad Air. He predicts Apple will release the iPhone 17e and M4 chip iPad Air in the coming weeks.

Anthropic Closes $30 Billion Funding at $380 Billion Valuation

Anthropic has completed a new funding round, raising $30 billion, bringing its valuation to $380 billion (including this round). This further boosts its competitive position against rivals like OpenAI.

OpenAI Launches Cerebras Chip-Supported Model for the First Time

On Thursday, OpenAI announced GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark, designed for real-time coding, a streamlined version of its Codex software, and the first result following a $10+ billion deal with Cerebras last month. An OpenAI spokesperson said the partnership with Nvidia remains “foundational,” and they will continue to evaluate the most cost-effective chips for various use cases, with GPUs remaining the preferred choice for research and reasoning applications.

EU Reports Re-initiates Antitrust Investigation into Google, Targeting Search Engine Ad Pricing

As a repeat offender for hefty EU fines, Google is again under EU antitrust scrutiny over concerns of illegal manipulation of search engine ad pricing. Media reports indicate that on February 9, the European Commission sent letters to potentially affected companies, suspecting Google of artificially inflating auction prices to “harm advertisers.” The EU states that if evidence supports these suspicions, it could violate EU competition rules, with fines potentially up to 10% of global annual turnover.

Trump: US Must Reach Deal with Iran or Situation Will Be “Very Serious”

On February 12, U.S. President Trump stated that the US “must” reach an agreement with Iran, or the situation will become “very serious.” He also said Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu “did not say” to stop negotiations, and the two sides have “not discussed” this. Trump emphasized, “I am willing to talk to them (Iran) for as long as it takes,” and if no deal is reached, “we will move to the second phase,” which would be “very difficult” for them.

He warned that if Iran does not reach an agreement, “it will be a different situation,” and cautioned that the situation could develop rapidly within the next month.

Democrats Block Funding Bill, US Department of Homeland Security Faces Shutdown

Democratic senators voted to block a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, risking an “almost inevitable” shutdown at midnight on the 13th. The procedural vote resulted in 52 in favor and 47 against. Since 60 votes are needed to advance the bill, the funding did not pass. If a shutdown occurs, key agencies under DHS—including FEMA, TSA, and the Coast Guard—will be affected.