Adapted by:
Javier Pastor
Senior WriterComputer scientist turned tech journalist. I've written about almost everything related to technology, but I specialize in hardware, operating systems and cryptocurrencies. I like writing about tech so much that I do it both for Xataka and Incognitosis, my personal blog.
Karen Alfaro
WriterCommunications professional with a decade of experience as a copywriter, proofreader, and editor. As a travel and science journalist, I've collaborated with several print and digital outlets around the world. I'm passionate about culture, music, food, history, and innovative technologies.
Apple stock closed at nearly $224 on Wednesday. Today, it plunged more than 8%, the biggest drop among the “Magnificent Seven” group. Still, all of them will be notably affected by President Donald Trump’s recently announced tariffs. That leads to another concern: AI investments.
Big Tech falls flat. According to CNBC, other companies also felt the pressure. Meta Platforms and Amazon fell about 7% each, while Nvidia and Tesla slumped more than 4%. Microsoft and Alphabet both fell 1% and 3%, respectively.
Tariffs everywhere. The drop is due to tariffs announced recently by Trump. The president said these taxes on imported goods would be a “declaration of economic independence” for the country. There will be a 10% tariff on all imports, with some countries facing even steeper penalties: a 34% tariff on China stacked on a previous 20% tax, a 46% duty on Vietnam, a 20% levy on imports from the EU, 32% on Taiwan, and 24% on Japan.
The U.S. is the world’s biggest importer. The U.S. remains the world’s largest importer. According to the Department of Commerce, the country spent $4.1 trillion on imported goods ($3.3 trillion) and services ($814 billion) in 2024. With these measures, the administration wants major exporting nations to correct their trade balance by purchasing more U.S. goods. Still, the move could trigger a dangerous domino effect.
At the gates of recession. JP Morgan’s experts are already warning about the risk of a U.S. recession. Decentralized indexes such as Polymarket put the probability at 50%, up from 20% a month ago. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s, places the risk at 40%, compared to 15% at the start of the year. Goldman Sachs has also raised its estimate of the probability of a recession in the coming months to 35%.
Caution in sight. During a recession, businesses and consumers become more cautious about spending. This also affects AI companies, as users may choose to cancel or avoid AI services that aren’t essential. That’s another major potential threat to companies like OpenAI, which struggle to attract paying users.
Less money for risky investments. Economic uncertainty is also shifting strategies among institutional investors and large funds. Many are reducing risky investments—such as AI ventures based on future potential—and focusing on safer bets like bonds and gold, which has recently surged in value.
What about AI? Projects like Stargate represent a colossal $500 billion investment to create AI data centers in the U.S. Semiconductors play a critical role in this effort. The U.S. will need to import chips and other components to build these centers, and manufacturers like Nvidia and TSMC will likely be affected by tariffs. They must either continue manufacturing outside the U.S. and pay the tariffs or build factories on U.S. soil to avoid them—something TSMC, for example, is already working on. However, these factories will take time to complete.
Tariffs with an eye on AI development. Many of the components and GPUs needed to build these data centers come from Taiwan, Mexico, and China—three countries hit hardest by the tariffs. The higher costs could significantly slow AI expansion. The industry’s previously unquestioned momentum may fade. For example, Microsoft has already announced the cancellation or postponement of several data center projects in Indonesia, the UK, Australia, and the U.S.
Investments at risk. Big Tech’s investment in data centers is massive. Amazon alone plans to allocate most of its $100 billion in 2025 capital expenditures to these developments. How will tariffs affect that investment? It’s hard to say, but for Amazon and other companies, the challenge of making these projects profitable is growing—especially if they have already overbuilt.
Image | Gage Skidmore | @felipepelaquim (Unsplash)
Related | There’s One Clear Winner From Trump’s New Tariffs on Imported Cars: Tesla, of Course
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