Tech stocks today: Meta social media trial kicks off, chip stocks fall

Tech stocks today: Meta social media trial kicks off, chip stocks fall

Daniel Howley · Technology Editor

Updated Mon, August 17, 2026 at 9:37 PM GMT+3 1 min read

• META -3.64%
• ^IXIC -1.09%

Tech stocks fell in early trading Tuesday, as the Nasdaq dropped more than 1%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also fell more than 5%.

Meta's latest social media addiction trial kicks off in Oakland, Calif., today. A collection of 29 state attorneys general is suing the social media giant over claims that it purposely developed its services to keep children online as long as possible and caused psychological harm.

Meta claims that the trial could leave it exposed to as much as $1.4 trillion in damages, but the state attorneys general dispute that number.

OpenAI on Tuesday announced its ChatGPT for Teens. Designed to provide improved protection for teens, the company says ChatGPT for Teens includes built-in protections for younger users that limit exposure to harmful content. It also regularly reminds teens to take breaks and works to prevent them from forming relationships with the AI.

Rival Anthropic, meanwhile, is reportedly pulling in huge revenue numbers. According to Bloomberg, the company saw its preliminary quarterly revenue jump 14x to $11.5 billion from $787 million a year ago.

The AI lab is preparing to go public in September or October, and The Financial Times reports that investors are targeting a $2 trillion valuation.

Also in AI, Nvidia announced it entered into an agreement to back an SB Energy and OpenAI data center in Ohio for $105 billion. Nvidia's contribution will support an initial 4.25 gigawatts of computing capacity, made up exclusively of Nvidia's chips. It will also have the option to join in on an additional 3.75 gigawatts of capacity down the line.