Tech Stocks AI Debt Selloff Hits Wall Street as Waymo Heads to Canada, Oil Nears $110

The tech stocks AI debt selloff deepened on Wall Street this week as investors dumped artificial intelligence and technology shares over growing fears about how the industry’s massive data-centre buildout is being financed. The Nasdaq suffered its worst week since June, with chipmakers and AI infrastructure names leading the losses, while debt markets flashed warning signs around heavily borrowed AI cloud providers. The same week brought two bright spots for technology investors: Alphabet’s Waymo announced its first international robotaxi expansion, in Toronto, Canada, and a Denver biotech startup won the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Brent crude hovered near $110 a barrel as the IMF and World Bank annual meetings wrapped up in Bangkok against a backdrop of high energy prices and rising global debt.

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Wall Street’s brutal week for technology

Friday’s session sealed a bruising week for U.S. equities. A broad selloff in AI and technology shares dragged the Nasdaq to its worst week since June, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield ended the day around 5.10% after spiking to 5.33% earlier in the week on hotter-than-expected consumer inflation data. Gold rose 0.33% to $4,188.50 as investors sought safety, the VIX stood at 19.99, and six of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes declined, led by communication services and information technology.

Why the Tech Stocks AI Debt Selloff Happened

The immediate worry is not simply that technology shares are expensive, but that some of the businesses funding data centres and chips may face a tighter financing environment before their revenues catch up. Investors began asking harder questions about how much of the enormous AI spending boom is backed by debt rather than cash, a shift in tone from the past couple of years, when AI spending was treated almost unconditionally as good news.

CoreWeave, an AI cloud provider that has become the focal point of the anxiety, carries tens of billions of dollars in debt — Reuters, cited by TheStreet, put the figure at around $50 billion. Its shares fell about 7% on Thursday after plunging 15.5% the previous day, and ended the week down roughly 25%. The concern also showed up in bond markets: yields on some CoreWeave bonds approached 15%, a sign lenders are demanding far more compensation to hold the company’s debt. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang tried to calm nerves at an event in Stockholm, saying of CoreWeave: “Their cost of capital is actually decreasing.” Nvidia’s own shares still slipped about 1.5%, while Meta fell nearly 4%; Apple was the only member of the so-called Magnificent Seven to rise.

Semiconductor shares bore the brunt of the selling. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 3.83% on Friday with every one of its 30 members in the red: Arm Holdings dropped nearly 7%, AMD lost about 6%, and Intel and Micron each fell more than 5.5%. Memory and storage names were hit hard too, with Seagate, Western Digital and SanDisk all down roughly 7%. Dell dropped 8% on Thursday, and Chinese semiconductor maker CXMT’s reported progress in advanced memory chips raised questions about the future profitability of established chipmakers.

Bond markets added to the pressure on richly valued technology shares. Speaking at an IMF meeting in Bangkok, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh declined to signal upcoming rate moves, remarking: “It’s a new chapter at the Fed, and we’re not in that business anymore.” Traders are now pricing an 89% chance of a rate hike by December, according to CME FedWatch data. For context on the broader AI-stock turbulence this month, see our earlier report: Global AI Stock Selloff Hammers Hedge Funds as KOSPI Plunges to Six-Month Low.

Waymo’s first international move: Toronto, Canada

Amid the market turmoil, Alphabet’s Waymo announced on Friday that it plans to bring its autonomous ride-hailing service to Toronto in 2028, marking the self-driving company’s first planned deployment in Canada and its first international market. The company said it would partner with Element Fleet Management for fleet operations as it expands beyond the United States to markets including London and Tokyo.

Waymo said it will begin groundwork in Canada’s largest city, including mapping and engagement with local authorities, as it prepares for a future deployment of the Waymo Driver. The company also plans to create hundreds of jobs over time in fleet maintenance, validation driving, customer service and other operations functions. Waymo already operates commercial robotaxi services in several U.S. cities.

Disrupt 2026: Intero Biosystems takes the Startup Battlefield Cup

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco, 20 startups competed over three days in the Startup Battlefield, chosen from the Startup Battlefield 200, for the Startup Battlefield Cup and a $100,000 prize. After hours of deliberation, the five finalists — Apate, Flox Intelligence, Intero Biosystems, Industrial Next and Satlyt — pitched to a final panel of judges including Alexa von Tobel of Inspired Capital, Chi-Hua Chien of Goodwater Capital, Dayna Grayson of Construct Capital, Karl Alomar of M13 and Stacy Brown-Philpot of Cherryrock Capital.

The winner was Intero Biosystems, a Denver-based startup founded by Charlie Childs and Madeline Eiken that spun out of the University of Michigan. It is developing one-millimetre human intestinal “organoids” — lab-grown tissue that mimics the gut — offering another way to study how drugs and other compounds might affect the human body before they are tested in people. The startup sells its flagship product, GastroScreen, to pharmaceutical, biotech, food and chemical companies for testing drugs and other compounds. Apate, which uses AI bots to engage scammers and gather fraud intelligence, finished as runner-up.

Oil near $110 as IMF and World Bank wrap up in Bangkok

Energy was the standout gainer on Wall Street as crude prices climbed. U.S. benchmark crude rose 3.4% to about $101 a barrel and Brent gained 3.5% to roughly $109.55, amid supply risks linked to Iran, according to Investopedia figures cited in market reporting. The surge added a second source of pressure for equities: higher oil prices tend to weigh on the price-to-earnings multiples investors are willing to pay for stocks.

The IMF and World Bank annual meetings, held at Bangkok’s Queen Sirikit National Convention Center from October 12 to 18, concluded against this backdrop of high energy prices and rising debt. The IMF’s October World Economic Outlook assumed oil prices would average $95.74 a barrel this year, up from $67.74 in 2025, and warned that energy-importing countries with little stake in the technology boom face “the most difficult configuration.” Under an adverse scenario highlighted in the report, a worsening conflict pushing oil to $130 a barrel through the first quarter of 2027 would reduce global growth and push inflation higher. Modest protests over growing inequality were held outside the venue during the weeklong meetings, the Associated Press reported. For more on the IMF’s regional warnings, see: IMF Middle East Economy Warning: Prolonged War Biggest Risk, Region Faces 1.3% Contraction.

Conclusion

The week’s tech stocks AI debt selloff marks a genuine turn in sentiment: the AI trade is no longer being graded only on growth, but on how it is financed. Whether the selloff deepens will depend on inflation data, the Fed’s next moves, and whether AI cloud providers can show their borrowing can convert into profits fast enough. Beyond the markets, the week belonged to builders: Waymo taking its driverless cars to a first international market in Toronto, and a young biotech company winning startup land’s most watched trophy with lab-grown human tissue.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the tech stocks AI debt selloff?

It refers to the sharp decline in technology and AI-related shares in mid-October 2026, driven by investor fears that the industry’s huge spending on data centres and computing infrastructure is being funded with unsustainable levels of debt as borrowing costs stay high.

Why are AI stocks falling on debt fears?

Investors are questioning whether AI companies can turn massive infrastructure investments into profits quickly enough to service their debt. Goldman Sachs noted that spreads on high-yield AI-related debt widened by 25 basis points between October 13 and 14, reaching 360 basis points above U.S. Treasuries, while non-AI debt spreads barely moved.

What is CoreWeave and why is it at the center of the selloff?

CoreWeave is an AI cloud provider that supplies computing infrastructure for AI applications. It has become the focal point of the selloff because it carries tens of billions of dollars in debt — Reuters put the figure at around $50 billion — and yields on some of its bonds approached 15% this week. Its shares fell roughly 25% over the week.

When will Waymo launch in Toronto?

Waymo said it plans to bring its autonomous ride-hailing service to Toronto in 2028. The company will begin groundwork in the city, including mapping and engagement with local authorities, and will partner with Element Fleet Management for fleet operations. It will be Waymo’s first deployment in Canada and its first international market.

Who won TechCrunch Disrupt 2026’s Startup Battlefield?

Intero Biosystems, a Denver-based startup founded by Charlie Childs and Madeline Eiken that spun out of the University of Michigan, won the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000. It develops one-millimetre lab-grown human intestinal organoids, sold as GastroScreen, for testing drugs and compounds before human trials.

Why is oil near $110 and what did the IMF meetings conclude?

Brent crude hovered near $110 a barrel amid supply risks linked to Iran, with the U.S. benchmark around $101. The IMF and World Bank annual meetings, held in Bangkok from October 12 to 18, concluded with warnings that high energy prices, war and rising debt threaten the global outlook, though the IMF still expects AI investment to support growth.