South Korean chip stocks plunge as Meta AI spending spooks market

South Korean stocks fell sharply Monday after Meta Platforms Inc. announced plans to sell excess computing power, raising fears that the artificial intelligence boom may be creating too much capacity. The selloff hit chipmakers hardest. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, two of the world’s largest memory chip producers, saw their shares drop. Investors worry that if major tech firms like Meta and Apple slow their own AI investments, demand for the high-end chips used in data centers could weaken. Meta’s move to market its spare computing capacity suggests that some companies are already building more AI infrastructure than they need. For South Korea’s export-driven economy, a slowdown in chip orders would be a serious blow. The broader Kospi index also declined, reflecting the market’s jitters over the technology sector’s outlook. Analysts say the coming weeks will show whether this is a temporary correction or the start of a deeper trend.