U.S. stock-index futures fell sharply on Sunday evening, led by technology shares, as investors weighed calls to slow artificial intelligence development, renewed Middle East tensions and a surge in oil prices. S&P 500 Futures fell 0.55% to 7,685.75 points by 19:06 ET (23:06 GMT), while Nasdaq 100 Futures slid 1.2% to 29,321.0 and Dow Jones Futures dropped 0.28% to 52,856.0. The moves followed a positive Friday session, when markets benefited from some profit-taking in oil after its strong gains the previous week. Oil prices rebounded near recent peaks on Sunday evening. Technology stocks were set to lead losses after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Tesla head Elon Musk backed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s proposal for stronger safety practices and a slower pace of AI development. Hugging Face CEO Clement Delangue and Google DeepMind Chair Demis Hassabis also supported the plan, which followed several high-profile hacks allegedly carried out by AI agents (automated systems using artificial intelligence). Investors remain sensitive to any moderation in AI development because chipmakers and data-center developers have gained trillions of dollars in valuation over the past four years through their exposure to the sector. Oil also climbed after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group attacked more Saudi Arabian targets and secured a major position along the Bab el-Mandeb strait, raising the risk of renewed Red Sea shipping disruptions. The group’s actions could affect another 4%-5% of global oil supplies, as Bab el-Mandeb is an alternative supply route to the Strait of Hormuz, which remained shut amid further U.S.-Iran military action over the weekend. Oman said a meeting between Iran and Gulf powers on reopening Hormuz was indefinitely delayed after being scheduled for Monday. Markets are also focused on a Federal Reserve meeting, with an increasing number of participants believing the central bank will raise interest rates by at least 25 basis points. Rate-hike concerns intensified after upbeat producer and consumer inflation data last week. InvestingPro promoted additional Wall Street and AI-trade insights at a discount of up to 50%.