01:27 PM EDT, 04/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks were sharply lower Friday afternoon, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) falling 1.9% and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) tumbling 3.2%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index dropped 3.2%.

In corporate news, Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed (MSFT) OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman has hosted events this month in San Francisco, New York and London with hundreds of Fortune 500 company executives to demonstrate artificial intelligence services for corporate use, Reuters reported Friday. Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares were down 1.8%.