Shares of trucking and logistics companies have fallen as the sector has become the latest to be targeted by investors on fears that new artificial intelligence tools could dampen demand.
A new tool launched by Algorithm Holdings, a former maker of in-car karaoke systems, on Thursday triggered a sell-off in the AI company with a market capitalization of just $6 million (£4.4 million), making the logistics industry the latest victim of an AI shock that has already shaken listed companies operating in the software and real estate sectors.
The announcement about the performance potential of Algorithm’s semicab platform, which it claimed is helping customers increase freight volumes by 300% to 400% without increasing headcount, sent the company’s share price up nearly 30% on Thursday.
However, the impact of the announcement sent the Russell 3000 Trucking Index – which tracks stocks in the US trucking sector – down 6.6% on Thursday, with CH Robinson Worldwide down 15% by the end of trading, down as much as 24%.
The declines across the sector – 16% at Landstar System, 20.5% at RXO and nearly 5% at both J.B. Hunt Transportation Services and XPO – were the worst since Donald Trump’s tariff trade war in April last year.
“The level of paranoia is Category 5,” said Joseph Shaposhnik, portfolio manager at Rainwater Equity. “It’s not something we’ve seen in a very long time.”
The chief executive of Algorithm Holding expressed skepticism that his company’s artificial intelligence of such scale could give rise to a “scare business” reaction.
Gary Atkinson, whose company was considered a “penny stock” in terms of stock market scale, said, “Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined a day like today.” “It’s almost like David versus Goliath.”
Listed drug distribution stocks were also caught in the selloff, with McKesson Corp and Cardinal Health falling about 4% each.
In Europe, logistics business DHL Group fell 4.9%, DSV A/S fell 11% and Kühne+Nagel International AG fell 13% in late trading on Thursday.
Daniel Moore, an analyst at Baird, said, “There is an emerging debate around open-source automation agents like Moult Bot that offer growing potential to automate routine back-office tasks and help level the technology playing field for smaller operators.”
Algorithm previously focused on developing in-car karaoke systems, but in 2025 it sold its singing machine business to Stingray for $4.5 million before moving on to its AI freight platform.
In London, shares of RELX (formerly Reed Elsevier) rose 5% in early trading, offsetting some of the sharp declines suffered by European publishing and legal software companies last week, triggered by Anthropic unveiling new capabilities of its chatbot cloud.
“We could be seeing a broader AI fear trade and it’s touching all the corners that are immune to disruption – materials, energy, staples,” said Neil Wilson, an investor strategist at Saxo UK. “This AI fear trade has been the main narrative of the past few sessions as many industries and sub-sectors have been caught in a selloff as investors fear companies will face significant AI disruption.”
