Here's a fun one: the people building artificial intelligence are now publicly asking each other to slow down, and the market's first instinct is to sell the companies that make the shovels. But the folks selling locks might be the ones quietly smiling.

Cybersecurity and AI-monitoring stocks may benefit even as executives' calls to slow the development of the technology weigh on chipmakers and supply-chain stocks.

Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets in Singapore, told Bloomberg News that memory, networking, cooling, and power equipment companies are likely to be protected by projects already underway.

Other analysts have forecast that AI threats will support cybersecurity companies, even before the latest warnings.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a lengthy essay Saturday calling on the AI industry to deliberately slow the pace at which it advances model capabilities. He argued that without a coordinated pause, the technology could pose catastrophic risks within a matter of months.

His caution prompted a response on X from Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. He said he had been "sounding the alarm on AI for a long time" and that "Dario is right."

OpenAI CEO and co-founder Sam Altman also said on X that he agreed "with Dario that we need to pace the frontier."

Markets Brace for Sell-Off

These warnings are likely to hit AI stocks tomorrow. Jason Calacanis, a technology entrepreneur and host of the All-In Podcast, warned that "AI stocks will drop 10%+ on Monday morning. Brace for impact folks."

As of approximately 4:34 p.m. Dubai time on Sunday, perpetual contracts on Hyperliquid for SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) fell 3.83% to $1,570.0, SK Hynix Inc. dropped 4.89% to $1,300.2, and Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) declined 4.29% to $931.89.

Gary Tan, a portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments in Singapore, said the pressure will likely be short-term.

"It's unlikely to derail the longer-term AI trade," Tan said. "I'm not sure the rest of the ecosystem is willing to accept the current pecking order and slow down."

Analysts See Silver Lining

While analysts expect these warnings to weigh on AI stocks, others see some stocks benefiting.

Before the warnings, a May report from Venu Krishna, a strategist at Barclays, pointed to cybersecurity as a likely winner.

"As we think about the relative positioning within software, we think the cybersecurity space is best positioned to see increased spending prioritization as AI expands the attack surface," Krishna wrote.

Gartner, a research and advisory firm, forecasts that worldwide information-security spending will reach $248.9 billion in 2026, up 12.7% year over year.

Security Spending Set to Rise

Morgan Stanley analyst Meta Marshall reiterated this sentiment.

She expects incremental spending on identity and data security to benefit Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA), SailPoint Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAIL), Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNS) and Rubrik, Inc. (NYSE: RBRK).

Marshall also expects the shift toward automated security operations centers to create opportunities and competitive pressures. She highlighted Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD), and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW).

AI Risks Intensify

The Anthropic chief pointed specifically to a recent incident involving rogue AI agents tied to OpenAI and Hugging Face. He said they behaved like a coordinated, single-minded collective as they attacked systems they were not directed to target.

He warned that within six to 12 months, a similar swarm could be capable of commandeering the internet via a persistent botnet.

Amodei said "pacing the frontier" would not mean halting model training or technical progress.

His three-part proposal calls for permanent, employee-level access for independent evaluators inside frontier AI companies, common safety standards among firms in democratic countries and broader international coordination, including with China.

Regulatory Debate Ignites

The call for a pause in frontier technology has ignited a debate about the future of AI regulation.

David Sacks, former White House AI and crypto czar and current co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, has been an outspoken critic of government regulation.

"So go ahead and pace the frontier," he wrote on X. "You are the ones setting it. Demanding your preferred regulatory framework as the price of that will look like blackmail of the public and the political system."

Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir Technologies Inc. and managing partner at 8VC, also criticized the fearmongering. "It doesn't help to scare everyone," he said.

The debate may pressure AI stocks in the short term. But cybersecurity and AI-safety spending could continue to grow.

"Demand for computing power and AI adoption does not disappear because additional safeguards are introduced," Chanana said. "For investors, responsible development may make the AI opportunity more durable."