S&P 500 futures were lower on Friday as OpenAI is reportedly considering delaying its IPO and as a sell-off in tech gathered pace amid mounting concerns over the rising cost of artificial intelligence infrastructure. Futures tied to the broad market index were down 0.5%, while Nasdaq-100 futures lost 1.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 94 points, or 0.2%. Chip stocks were weaker after a New York Times report that OpenAI is considering delaying its IPO to next year because of SpaceX’s poor performance following its debut and overall volatility in AI-related shares. The report raised concerns about “the sustainability of their infrastructure spending given the delay in funding from the capital markets,” wrote JPMorgan traders in a note. The OpenAI IPO delay “could slow the pace of infrastructure spending,” said Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge. Shares of Micron Technology declined 6%, while Advanced Micro Devices and Intel shed 4% each. Additionally, software stock Oracle dropped more than 1%. In Thursday’s session, Apple lost 6% after announcing price hikes on its iPads and MacBooks, pointing to rising demand for memory and storage. Microsoft dropped more than 3% after announcing higher prices on its Xbox gaming consoles, citing surging component costs. Fellow tech giants Alphabet and Meta Platforms also closed the session lower. “This is a market that we think is quite set up to test conviction. We have this flavor of market leadership in specifically semiconductors and memory chip leaders,” said Julia Hermann, global market strategist at New York Life Investment Management, on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Thursday afternoon. “This is a structurally more volatile flavor of tech than we saw in the Magnificent Seven for the past several years.” Hermann added, “Then you pair that with an astonishing repricing in Fed expectations—not just the what, but the why of why the Fed might be hiking next—and you have this environment, which is candidly a recipe for volatility.” Treasury yields were little changed on Friday as energy prices fell despite fresh geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, while traders continued to assess the impact of fresh inflation data on the U.S. economy. Yields on the 10-year Treasury note—the main benchmark for mortgages, auto loans, and credit card debt—rose less than 1 basis point to 4.394%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note, which closely tracks short-term Federal Reserve interest rate decisions, dropped more than 2 basis points to 4.10%. The 30-year Treasury yield, which traditionally moves on geopolitical events, was up more than 1 basis point at 4.878%. The sell-off was particularly severe in Asia. SoftBank Group, which is a key backer of OpenAI, led losses across the region on Friday, plunging more than 12%. South Korean equities finished sharply lower, with the Kospi declining 5.81% to 8,411.21 and the Kosdaq shedding 4.10% to 851.37, as the broad-based technology selloff swept across the region. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 4.15% to 69,360.88, while the broader Topix lost 1.32% to 3,963.36. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 bucked the regional downturn to edge up 0.18%, closing at 8,764.20. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed 1.76% lower, while the mainland’s CSI 300 lost 3% to close at 4,869.64. Oil prices extended declines on Friday as more tankers exited the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, easing supply concerns despite a vessel coming under attack in the Gulf of Oman. International benchmark Brent crude futures for August were last seen trading 3.2% lower at $72.83 a barrel, extending earlier losses, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for August declined 3.2% to $69.62 per barrel. Gold prices were on ​track for a ​fourth consecutive weekly fall on ​Friday, as a resilient dollar and expectations of faster U.S. rate hikes to tame inflation kept bullion pressured near the key $4,000-per-ounce level. Spot gold was steady at $4,027.91 ⁠an ounce. U.S. ⁠gold futures ⁠for August delivery edged 0.1% lower to $4,043.40. For the week, bullion was on track for a loss of 3.2%, having slipped below the key $4,000 level for the first time since November ‌2025 on Wednesday. “The rapid repricing of the hawkish Fed created a strong bullish momentum in the U.S. dollar, which eventually led ​to this significant downward drift in gold prices,” said Kelvin Wong, a senior market analyst at OANDA. The U.S. dollar index was headed for a second consecutive weekly gain, making gold more expensive for ⁠holders of other currencies. Wong sees the multi-month correction in gold, since the record high reached ‌in late January, extending towards $3,400 in the long term. Gold ‌prices have fallen about 29% from the record high of $5,594.82 on January 29, as inflation fueled by the U.S.-Iran war ramped up rate-hike bets.