South Korea's KOSPI plunges 5% as AI spending fears hit Samsung and SK Hynix

South Korea's KOSPI index plunged over 5% on Friday, triggering emergency trading controls, as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shares collapsed amid renewed fears about artificial intelligence spending. The index fell 5.13% to 5,633.34, with Samsung dropping about 5% and SK Hynix nearly 8%. The Korea Exchange temporarily halted program sell orders after futures crashed, following a tech selloff on Wall Street and heavy foreign investor selling. Record profits from both memory chip giants failed to reassure investors that the AI spending boom will sustain earnings. The selloff was sparked by Alphabet's 12.6% drop after AI investments pushed its free cash flow negative, raising doubts about returns on massive capital expenditures.