AI-Linked Crypto Tokens Underperform as Apple's Event Fails to Impress Traders

• Apple shares tumbled nearly 2% as tech giant unveiled its AI plans during the annual developers event.
• The rout rippled through AI-adjacent cryptos which underperformed the broader digital asset market.

Artificial intelligence-linked (AI) cryptocurrencies slumped Monday as tech giant Apple's (AAPL) highly-anticipated annual developers event failed to inspire traders.

Native tokens of Render (RNDR), Fetch.ai (FET) and SingularityNET (AGIX) declined 3%-5% over the past 24 hours, while Bittensor's TAO tumbled nearly 6% during the same time. Layer-1 network Near Protocol (NEAR) also dropped 3.2%.

The CoinDesk Computing Index, which includes tokens with AI-related utilities, was one of the worst-performing sectors among digital assets, losing 2.5% in market value during the day and underperforming bitcoin (BTC) and the broader digital asset benchmark CoinDesk 20 Index.

The decline happened as expectations were high for the tech giant to reveal its AI plans and how it would weave artificial intelligence into its offerings at this week's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC2024). The firm on Monday announced Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI features for iPhones, Mac and other products, and a partnership with Sam Altman's OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Apple software.

Apple shares, however, closed the trading session nearly down 2% despite slight gains for key U.S. equity indexes.