America News Agency

Certain segments of the U.S. stock market have been negatively affected this year following the launch of AI tools that threaten to automate tasks performed by companies or at least erode profit margins.

Shares of several shipping and logistics companies fell amid concerns that new AI tools could eliminate major inefficiencies in the transportation sector and reduce demand for its services.

Software stocks such as Palantir Technologies and Autodesk also declined in recent weeks, while real estate and financial shares suffered losses.

Investors in Asia were watching for any spillover effects. Taiwan, one of the leading markets in AI, was closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.72% after briefly reaching 58,000 on Thursday, while the Topix index dropped 0.92%.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.31%, while the Kosdaq fell 1.75%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.69% and mainland China’s CSI 300 slipped 0.51%.

Zhipu AI shares in Hong Kong rose 16% after surging nearly 30% the previous day.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.32%. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones dropped 1.34%, the S&P 500 fell 1.57%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 2.03%.