AI Boom Hits Korea's Kospi Hard: Can Seoul Survive the Chip Crash?

The recent sharp swings in the market highlight an "AI reckoning" for economies that have heavily invested in AI infrastructure and chip production. South Korea, which depends heavily on semiconductor exports, is particularly vulnerable. The country has survived past financial shocks, but the AI cycle is faster and more unpredictable, leaving investors and policymakers scrambling to manage the fallout of a boom that may be cooling before it fully matures [208956].

The AI boom is creating new economic pressures beyond the stock market. In the United States, the rapid expansion of data centers and AI infrastructure is driving up costs for energy and hardware, which is expected to temporarily raise consumer prices without delivering immediate economic growth. This means businesses and households may face higher expenses without seeing corresponding wage increases or job creation [207672]. The financial rewards from AI are also concentrating among a few big tech companies, sparking debates among economists and policymakers about how to spread those profits more broadly. Proposals include taxing AI-driven profits to fund a universal basic income or creating a national "AI dividend" that would give citizens direct cash payments [204317].

The impact on employment is already visible in the tech sector. Google is growing, adding 11,830 employees from June 2025 to June 2026, while Meta lost over 2,000 employees in recent quarters and Microsoft cut about 5,000 full-time positions. These changes come as companies restructure teams and invest heavily in AI [206963]. The shift is also reaching physical workplaces, as Chinese humanoid robots begin testing real-world jobs at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, handling luggage and learning to move in busy spaces shared by people [207752].