Nasdaq 100 on track to erase $1.8T as traders fear AI buildout stall

The Nasdaq 100 is staring down a $1.8 trillion wipeout today, according to Reuters. Investors are betting that a Democratic sweep could put the brakes on the AI data center buildout — and they're selling first, asking questions later. Cointelegraph flagged the number as it crossed the wires.

That's $1.8 trillion in combined market value potentially gone in a single session. The index is on track to shed it, per Reuters, which is the kind of figure that turns a normal red day into a headline. The trigger isn't earnings or a Fed print — it's politics.

The AI data center buildout has been the market's favorite story, and traders had been treating it as unstoppable. Now the fear is that a Democratic sweep reshapes the policy backdrop those projects are counting on. Reuters reports the wager is that the buildout stalls, and the selling is following the bet.

What happens next hinges on whether this is a one-day flush or the start of something stickier. Watch whether the losses hold into the close, and whether the political odds keep moving in the same direction as the tape. For now, the market is pricing in a slowdown before a single policy has been written.