A Global Tech Rout
The selling was broad and punishing. South Korea’s Kospi sank 6.4%, with memory chipmaker SK Hynix dropping 11.5% and Samsung Electronics falling 8.8%. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 2.8%, dragged down by chipmaking equipment companies Tokyo Electron and Advantest, which fell 4.5% and 5.9% respectively. SoftBank Group shed 6.3%. Ppost-gazette
In Europe, France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX each fell 0.7%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.3%. On Wall Street, the Nasdaq fell roughly 1%, with chipmakers among the steepest decliners as the PHLX Semiconductor Index dropped 5%. Wwsj
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Japan AI Infrastructure Push
Despite the market turbulence, Huang used his Tokyo visit to announce a partnership with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and AI developer Noetra Corp. to build what he called “the world’s first national AI infrastructure for physical AI”. Nvidia will provide computing systems and its full-stack AI platform, with construction slated to begin in April 2027. Mmarketscreener
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“Japan cannot outsource its national intelligence. Japan must own, improve, secure, and deploy Japan AI,” Huang said during a keynote event. He added that the technology underpinning what he described as “the next industrial revolution” had arrived in the form of physical AI after 15 years of development. Mmarketscreener
Confidence Against the Current
Huang’s bullish posture stands in contrast to weeks of selling pressure on AI-related stocks. Nvidia shares have retreated from their May highs, and chip and memory companies have been hit by a second straight day of losses, with investors questioning whether stock prices have outpaced the technology’s ability to deliver profits. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, often viewed as a barometer for the AI chip industry, reported record quarterly earnings Thursday and announced an additional $100 billion in U.S. chipmaking investments. Ppost-gazette
