OpenAI’s golden touch spreads as stocks soar off mere mentions

Chicago – OpenAI has already proved it has a golden touch when it comes to partnering other technology firms to deploy its artificial intelligence (AI) products. Its power to move shares, though, is rapidly spreading to companies it even briefly discusses teaming up with.

The company behind ChatGPT held its annual developer event on Oct 6, and mere mentions of other publicly traded firms by presenters sent those shares soaring.

Among notable movers: Figma climbed as much as 16 per cent, HubSpot added 11 per cent and Salesforce gained 4.2 per cent. Online travel firms also saw brief pops, with Expedia Group and Tripadvisor both advancing at least 7 per cent. Even shares of toymaker Mattel jumped nearly 6 per cent.

Most were named as partners whose apps are being incorporated into ChatGPT, the AI bot that counts about 800 million weekly users. While those integrations fall well short of the

deal Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and OpenAI disclosed on Oct 6

, that pact served to show retail and momentum traders just how influential such a move can be: AMD shares soared 24 per cent, adding US$63.4 billion (S$81.9 billion) in market value.

Mr Joe Saluzzi, a partner at Themis Trading, said: “This is a momentum market, where anything related to OpenAI moves stocks and people throw fundamentals out the window.”

The moves are reminiscent of those seen by stocks of companies mentioned by Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang at its GTC conference in 2024. Shares of engineering software makers Synopsys, Cadence Design Systems and Ansys climbed after Mr Huang said the firms would use its new Blackwell-based processors to put more AI enhancements in their products.

OpenAI recently completed a deal to help employees sell shares, which resulted in a US$500 billion valuation for the company,

making it the world’s largest start-up

. That valuation, coupled with the scale of AI-related moves, has led to growing concerns that the growth and stock moves are unsustainable.

Talk of an AI bubble has been growing louder

in recent months, with some investors likening such trading to the dot.com euphoria.

“Obviously, we don’t know the revenue implications of anything being mentioned by OpenAI, but while these kinds of moves can be a concern, there is a lot of money being made and spent on AI,” Mr Saluzzi said.

“We’re not talking about Pets.com. Everyone realises we’re in a bubble stage. The problem is, no one knows if we’re at the beginning or near the end.” BLOOMBERG