Oracle and a cluster of other software stocks were dropping on Monday.

That's not surprising, seeing as investors were loading up on some of their go-to artificial intelligence stocks to kick off what ought to be a quiet week for the market.

Shares of software giant Oracle slid 1.3% in early trading.

Workflow automation platform ServiceNow dropped 1.9%, advertising technology company Trade Desk declined 2%, and enterprise software developer Workday fell 2.6%.

The moves came as shares of chip and memory companies, including Micron and Sandisk, rallied. Software and semiconductor stocks tend to move in opposite directions because investors think AI will impact them differently.

Large-language models like ChatGPT run off chips, while demand for memory and networking products has also surged due to the boom in data-center construction.

Meanwhile, AI is expected to upend the software industry because of the rise of so-called vibe-coding tools, which may eventually be able to replace certain products.

Those worries have weighed on stocks this year, and private-equity firms may try to take advantage of the selloff. Silver Lake and Workday have held discussions about a possible takeover in recent months, Reuters reported last week, citing people familiar with the matter.

Workday and Silver Lake didn't respond to requests for comment from Barron's.