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Chip stocks slide after Broadcom boss likens AI investing to ‘casino’

Shares in semiconductor companies fell on Tuesday after the boss of Broadcom compared many AI investors to “casino” gamblers, and the Chinese memory chip maker CXMT said it had made good progress on a new chip architecture. South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index tumbled 6.25% as investors dumped chip stocks, while other Asian markets were also lower. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.8% and the Taiwan exchange lost almost 2%, with the country’s chip maker TSMC down by a similar amount. Samsung Electronics shares dropped 7.4% o…

By the Truvace desk2 min read1 sourceJournalismTRV-2026-1364· cite & verify
Chip stocks slide after Broadcom boss likens AI investing to ‘casino’

In brief

Chip stocks fell across Asia and in the US on 13 October 2026 after Broadcom chief executive Hock Tan said many AI investors did not understand their bets, and after CXMT reported progress on a new memory architecture. South Korea's Kospi dropped 6.25%, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix among the hardest hit.

The sell-off shows how much of the market rally is tied to AI chip companies, and how sensitive those valuations are to doubts about profitability and to new rivals. It remains unclear whether the declines mark a lasting reassessment, since the article only reports one day's moves and early trading in the US.

Main points

  1. Samsung Electronics fell 7.4%, SK Hynix fell 10%, and Tokyo Electron fell 7.15% on Tuesday.
  2. SoftBank Group, described as an OpenAI investor, lost 8.5%.
  3. CXMT said it had made good progress on a new Dram architecture that would boost memory density, with plans for a product rollout.
  4. Tan said OpenAI's $50bn annualised revenue at the end of September did not guarantee long-term profitability, and that much enterprise revenue came from pilot projects.

The problem

Semiconductor stocks fell sharply as investors worried about speculative AI valuations, debt-funded infrastructure spending and new competition from Chinese memory chip maker CXMT.

The rundown

In Asia, the Nikkei fell 1.8% and the Taiwan exchange lost almost 2%, with TSMC down by a similar amount. On Wall Street, the Nasdaq fell 0.35% after the open, Micron slid 4.8%, AMD dropped 1.4%, Nvidia lost 0.8% and Broadcom slipped 0.2%.

Not all markets fell: the Dow rose nearly 0.4% in early trading and the FTSE 100 reached a three-week high, helped by financial stocks, lower oil prices and easing bond yields.

CXMT makes Dram chips, which store data that AI chips draw on, and investors fear it could challenge Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron. IG analyst Chris Beauchamp said competition is good for customers but dangerous for high-flying tech stocks.

Sources

  1. JournalismThe Guardian2026-10-13

The debate