AI Stock Selloff Hits Chip Giants from Seoul to Silicon Valley

A wave of selling swept across the global semiconductor market this week, hammering major chipmakers in the US and Asia as investor anxiety over artificial intelligence spending intensified. South Korea's benchmark Kospi index triggered a 20-minute trading halt Tuesday morning after plunging 8%, then extended losses to roughly 10% once trading resumed. The selloff was led by tech heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, both of which shed more than 10% of their value.

The turmoil followed a 5% decline for Nvidia in New York on Monday, which knocked the AI chip giant from its perch as the world's most valuable publicly traded company, handing that title back to Apple. Nvidia's drop came after The Wall Street Journal reported it is in talks to contribute around $250 billion to a massive data-center project tied to OpenAI. Meanwhile, Japan's tech-heavy Nikkei 225 slid nearly 4.5% Tuesday morning. In the US, SK Hynix shares fell 7.5% Monday, dipping well below the $149 price they fetched in a record-breaking Nasdaq debut just weeks ago.

South Korea's stock market has been especially volatile this year. The Kospi more than doubled between January and mid-June but has since given back roughly a third of that gain. The exchange has already triggered circuit-breaker halts eight times in 2025, a mechanism designed to curb panic selling. Analysts point to a surge in retail trading as a key factor behind the swings. More broadly, the recent rout reflects growing doubt among investors: as governments and corporations pour hundreds of billions into AI infrastructure, many are asking whether the technology can generate returns large enough to justify the outlays.

Source: BBC News