Asian Tech Stocks Plunge Amid Growing AI Bubble Concerns

Asian chipmaking and technology stocks tumbled sharply on Wednesday, tracking heavy overnight losses in U.S. markets as investors grew increasingly wary of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven market bubble.

South Korea’s KOSPI led regional declines, dropping as much as 6% as major tech firms SK Hynix Inc. (KS:000660) and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (KS:005930) each shed nearly 6%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TW:2330), a key player in the global AI supply chain, fell around 3%, while Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. (TW:2317) dropped 1.8%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 slumped 4.5%, dragged down by tech losses. SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) plunged nearly 14%, while Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) and Lasertec Corp. (TYO:6920) sank 9.7% and 8.5%, respectively. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 1.1%, with Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (HK:0981) losing 2.5%, and tech heavyweights Alibaba Group (HK:9988), Baidu Inc. (HK:9888), and Tencent Holdings Ltd. (HK:0700) sliding between 1% and 3%.

The selloff followed warnings from Wall Street executives at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs about inflated valuations in the tech sector. Investor Michael Burry, known for predicting the 2008 financial crisis, also shorted AI leaders NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR), adding to the bearish sentiment.

Wall Street’s NASDAQ Composite fell 2% overnight, with positive earnings from Palantir and AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) doing little to calm nerves. Investors grew uneasy as Meta and Microsoft’s soaring AI-related capital expenditures failed to deliver proportional returns, squeezing profit margins.

Concerns over circular AI financing intensified after NVIDIA announced a $100 billion investment in OpenAI—a major buyer of its chips—fueling fears of an overheated market. With NVIDIA’s earnings due on November 19, traders now await fresh signals that could determine the next major move in global tech stocks.