US stocks fall as report of OpenAI IPO delay causes jitters

Wall Street stocks fell on Friday, capping a roller-coaster week for tech stocks as traders fretted that valuations may be entering bubble territory.

Analysts were further spooked by a report in the New York Times that OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, was leaning toward delaying its highly anticipated IPO until next year.

This was in part caused by Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX seeing its valuation drop from its IPO-day highs this week, pointing to a rockier landing zone for blockbuster public offerings on Wall Street.


About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.44 percent at 51,690.51, and the broad-based S&P 500 slid 0.63 percent to 7,311.26.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.0 percent to 25,092.01, reflecting those AI jitters.

Reports of an OpenAI IPO delay are "without question" a catalyst for the downturn, Christopher Low of FHN Financial told AFP.

"Maybe they're hesitant to bring the stock to market at a time when investors are skeptical," he added.