TOKYO, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed mixed on Monday, with the benchmark Nikkei stock index ending at its lowest level in a month and a half, as calls by top executives of major U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) developers to slow the pace of AI development triggered selling of related shares.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 518.35 points, or 0.81 percent, from Friday to close at 63,492.99, its lowest finish since July 30.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, gained 29.91 points, or 0.74 percent, to end at 4,058.21.
The Nikkei index briefly shed around 2 percent in the morning session as investors sold AI- and semiconductor-related shares after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote in an essay Saturday that the industry should "slow the pace" on safety grounds, a call backed by Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Among AI-linked decliners, SoftBank Group plunged over 10 percent after a report cited OpenAI CEO as saying the U.S. company, in which SoftBank has heavily invested, will not go public this year, analysts said.
Bank and other financial stocks, meanwhile, found buying support on expectations that further rate hikes by the Bank of Japan would boost profits, helping lift the broader Topix index. ■