Trump calls AI fears a 'hoax', Treasury yields surge, Moynihan's warning and more in Morning Squawk

Stock futures are in the red following a losing day on Wall Street. The Nasdaq Composite lost just over half of a percentage point after technology stocks regained ground from being down 1% earlier Monday. AI-linked stocks such as Micron and Nvidia dropped on AI industry fears, but rallies in other pockets of tech such as cybersecurity provided a cushion. Some investors wrote off the growing chorus of concern around AI, saying the doomsday talk is a political tactic to encourage government regulation. Stocks also got a boost yesterday when the 10-year Treasury yield backed off from highs not seen in almost three years. But the benchmark note restarted its ascent overnight, hitting its highest level since 2007.

President Donald Trump on Monday fiercely dismissed calls for an AI slowdown. In a salvo of social media posts, the president repeatedly called pushback to AI and data centers a "hoax" and "scam," at one point taking a swipe at Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Trump said the reason for the outpouring of AI concerns "is because the United States is leading, by a lot, every other country." He called Jensen Huang as the Nvidia CEO was speaking at a summit yesterday and reiterated his view that the backlash to the technology and data centers is a hoax. Meanwhile, Microsoft posted a provisional code of conduct that would place restrictions on its future AI models. The move comes after leading AI firms Anthropic and OpenAI — both of whose models are incorporated into Microsoft's Copilot assistant — called for a slowdown in the advancement of AI.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan warned analysts yesterday that investment banking fees would likely fall by more than 10% in the third quarter compared with a year prior. That would mark a steep reversal from the 50% growth the bank reported in its second quarter. Moynihan cited Dealogic data that he said shows that the investment banking market has slid 10% across the board. Because Bank of America is "not as well positioned" as competitors that have "more activity," he said, the bank will probably end up down "a bit more than that." As CNBC's Hugh Son and Ritika Shah write, Moynihan's weak outlook could be a sign that the AI-driven advisory and trading boom on Wall Street is waning. Bank of America shares tumbled just over 5% in Monday's session.