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 index fell 1.57% to 6,832.76; the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.34% to 49,451.98; the Nasdaq dropped 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, squeezing some revenue streams. Trucking and logistics companies 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-ification” 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 level of 6,950, market makers were forced to chase the decline, intensifying downward pressure, causing the index to fall below the 50-day moving average again.

Goldman Sachs traders have warned of risks, emphasizing that the most worrying aspect isn’t the sell-off itself but the “complete lack of willingness to buy,” which makes any sector’s decline prone to turning into a crash.

The sharp decline in U.S. stocks 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 performers among tech giants last night, falling 5%, erasing its gains for the year, and losing about $200 billion in market value overnight. Reports previously indicated that Apple’s long-anticipated upgraded Siri faced setbacks again, with some AI features possibly delayed until May or later.

【U.S. Treasury Bonds】

Amid the renewed AI panic and tech stock sell-off, safe-haven flows into U.S. Treasuries pushed yields down across the board. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield closed at 4.112%, while 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%, Western Digital dropped 3.58%, Intel fell 3.75%.

On the news front, Google has recently become the subject of EU antitrust investigations again, due to concerns over potential 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 on Thursday, available to Google AI ultra subscribers and some API users, targeting applications in science and engineering.

【Global Indices】

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index in the UK declined slightly by 0.67%, closing at 10,402 points. France’s CAC 40 rose modestly by 0.33% to 8,341 points. Germany’s DAX dipped slightly by 0.01% to 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 flat.

【China Indices】

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

【Chinese Concept Stocks】

Among popular Chinese concept stocks, Tencent Holdings (HK) fell 2.28%, Alibaba dropped 3.45%, Pinduoduo declined 4.16%, NetEase fell 0.28%, Baidu declined 4.64%, Ctrip fell 6.01%, Li Auto dropped 2.08%, Xpeng Motors declined 2.24%, NIO fell 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 the Iran-US situation and IEA’s downward revision of global oil demand forecasts, international crude oil prices declined. WTI crude fell sharply in the US session, dropping below $63, ending down 2.79% at $62.83 per barrel; Brent crude declined 2.67% to $67.55 per barrel.

【Headlines】

U.S. Stock Plunge Sparks Algorithmic Selling of Precious Metals?

On Thursday, spot gold fell as much as 4.1%, and silver plunged 11%. Amid renewed concerns over whether massive AI investments can be effectively implemented at scale, tech stocks in the U.S. declined sharply. Analysts say metal prices suddenly dropped under what appears to be algorithmic trading sell-offs, forcing some investors to exit large commodity positions, including gold and silver, to maintain liquidity.

Google Gemini 3 Deep Thinking Model Major Upgrade Sets New Record in Final Testing, 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 the discovery process 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

AI tech company Algorhythm 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 operational staff. As industry fundamentals remain unhealed, concerns sparked by this report became the “last straw,” with industry leader C.H. Robinson plunging over 20% during the session.

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 emerging 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 a $380 Billion Valuation

Anthropic has completed a new funding round, raising $30 billion, bringing its valuation to $380 billion (including this round), further strengthening its position in AI against competitors like OpenAI.

OpenAI Launches Cerebras Chip-Supported Model for the First Time

On Thursday, OpenAI announced GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark, optimized for real-time coding, a streamlined version of its Codex software, and the first result following its over $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 still preferred for research and reasoning applications.

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

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

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

On February 12, U.S. President Trump stated that the U.S. “must” reach an agreement with Iran, or the situation will become “very serious.” He also said Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu “did not say” to halt negotiations, and the two sides have “not discussed” this. Trump emphasized, “I am willing to talk to them (Iran) 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 agree, “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 a near-certain 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.