Asian AI stocks plunge as Wall Street selloff spreads to Seoul and Tokyo

Asian AI stocks plunged Friday as Wall Street's selloff spread, exposing concerns over financing costs for rapid sector expansion. Samsung fell 9.98%, SK Hynix 11.71%, and SoftBank about 11%, with South Korea's KOSPI dropping over 8% and triggering a 20-minute trading halt. The Nasdaq Composite lost 5.52% Thursday and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index crashed 12.25%, with Nvidia down 9.26% and Micron 17.46%. Democratic election gains fueled fears of stricter data center regulations, while investors questioned whether AI developers can earn enough to justify massive debt-funded spending. Samsung and SK Hynix later trimmed losses, but SoftBank's credit default swap spreads hit a four-year high. Analysts called the selloff exaggerated, noting current orders show no collapse, though SoftBank faces sustained risk with $64.6 billion invested in OpenAI and its IPO delayed to 2027.