Infosys, TCS, Wipro: IT stocks zoom after global AI leaders call for slower development; NIFTY IT jumps 5%

Indian IT sector stocks traded with impressive gains on Tuesday, September 15, after the head of AI company Anthropic has called for the pace of development of artificial intelligence (AI) models to slow down and to be closely monitored.

Dario Amodei wrote in an online essay that developing AI was not in question, but that the risks associated with it were "serious" and that companies and governments must be given time to address them.

The bosses of two rival AI firms, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Elon Musk, have both said they agree with Amodei.

How IT stocks were performing

The NIFTY IT index jumped 5% to 30,390.70 levels with all 10 constituents trading in the green. Infosys was up 5.38% at ₹1,093.50 on the NSE, while TCS traded 5.13% higher at ₹2,313.70.

HCL Technologies shares were up around 6.5% at ₹1,283.70 apiece on the NSE, while Wipro traded 3.30% higher at ₹172.93. Tech Mahindra shares were trading 5.63% higher at ₹1,627.70 apiece on the NSE.

Besides the prominent IT players, other stocks in the technology and IT sector were also among investors’ favourites today.

Mphasis shares were trading 4.6% higher at ₹2,400 apiece on the NSE, while Mastek gained around 2.9% to ₹1,672.90. Persistent Systems was trading 1.37% higher at ₹5,591.50.

Key details

Jacob Coxon told the BBC that people working at AI companies were "genuinely frightened... genuinely concerned about the fate of humanity in the next two years".

Global stocks tumble

Global AI-related stocks fell after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's view.

Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a Saturday interview that an initial public offering (IPO) by the company this year would be “ill-advised”.

Shares of AI favourite Nvidia fell 3%, while Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices declined more than 4% each. Intel dropped over 5%, while Marvell Technology fell more than 7%.

Indian IT stocks: What market participants need to know

Shares of Indian IT services companies such as TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and LTIMindtree could remain in focus amid growing global concerns over the pace of AI development and investment.

While the latest comments from leading AI executives are primarily centred on slowing the development of frontier AI models, any moderation in AI-related capital expenditure could have a mixed impact on IT services companies.

A slower pace of AI spending could weigh on demand for some technology services, while greater focus on productivity and cost savings could create opportunities for IT firms offering AI-led transformation and automation services.

Investors are likely to watch whether the debate around AI spending translates into changes in client technology budgets and deal activity.