AI risks and calls to "slow down" are heating up, and U.S. cybersecurity stocks are surging collectively.

On Monday, cybersecurity stocks broadly advanced. Investor concerns that artificial intelligence could cause harm to humanity intensified, while some industry leaders called for slowing the pace of AI development, driving capital toward cybersecurity and related enterprise software sectors. Among individual stocks, CrowdStrike (CRWD.US) surged more than 11%, and Palo Alto Networks (PANW.US) rose over 10%. Palo Alto CEO Nikesh Arora commented on the potential slowdown in AI development, saying security companies must stand at the "forefront," anticipate various scenarios, and build framework solutions, thereby gaining the opportunity to safeguard future outcomes. Okta (OKTA.US), Netskope (NTSK.US), Rubrik (RBRK.US), Fortinet (FTNT.US), Check Point Software (CHKP.US), and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) also posted significant gains. Microsoft Corporation's cybersecurity business contributes substantial revenue. Evercore ISI analyst Kirk Materne said in a client note that cybersecurity and infrastructure demand should be "largely orthogonal" to the pace of frontier model development. Whether autonomous agents enter enterprises faster or slower than expected, they will still need to be secured, governed, and observed, and will also require controlled access to critical enterprise data. Therefore, regardless of the pace of frontier model training, the structural demand backdrop for cybersecurity and certain infrastructure companies should remain relatively intact. Materne added that Okta, SailPoint (SAIL.US), Palo Alto Networks, and CrowdStrike should all benefit, as identity management remains a "top priority" for enterprises; the latter two, as platform vendors, are able to provide integrated visibility and response across a broader security stack, making them best positioned to capture related spending over time. Other enterprise software stocks also rose on Monday, with ServiceNow (NOW.US), IBM (IBM.US), Adobe (ADBE.US), and Salesforce (CRM.US) among the top gainers. Materne said that as endgame pessimism around AI-driven software disruption continues to ease, Salesforce and ServiceNow may increasingly attract longer-duration GARP/value investors. Over the weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that the AI industry needs to slow model development to avoid a potential catastrophe. Subsequently, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that frontier AI development needs a controlled pace, but should not stop. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who rarely agrees with Amodei and Altman on issues, also said the industry must slow down slightly. Microsoft Corporation CEO Satya Nadella joined the discussion, saying AI development needs a "prudent pace." The Windows maker also released a draft of "Humanist AI: A Code of Conduct," outlining the expected behavior and values of its internal MAI series models. Analysts believe that although the debate over the pace of AI development continues, demand for security, governance, and identity management may continue to provide support for the cybersecurity sector.