US Tech Stocks Plunge as Market Questions AI Spending Returns
US chip giant Intel saw its share price plunge nearly 30% on 10月30日 due to weak earnings outlook, while Anthropic was reported to possibly fail to obtain an investment-grade credit rating immediately after listing. Concerns over whether massive artificial intelligence capital spending can deliver returns heated up, sending US technology stocks sharply lower. The market is watching whether this wave of AI investment doubts will affect subsequent capital spending by large US tech firms and in turn hit Taiwan semiconductor supply chain exports. National Development Council Minister Ye Junxian responded in an interview after attending an event today, saying that recently emerging cloud service providers have seen some cash flow conditions.
Taiwan Hardware Orders and Funding Secure, Only Short-Term Adjustment
Ye Junxian said that although Intel and Anthropic are also facing pressure and cash flow may not be as ample as before, they can still raise funds through various channels such as issuing corporate bonds, so this is only a temporary phenomenon, and most of it remains concentrated in the software segment. Currently it should be US capital markets having some concerns about the AI software segment. Taiwan is mainly hardware-focused, with orders through the end of this year and the end of next year showing no problems. Taiwan enterprises have earned large foreign exchange, related funds and cash flow are fully sound, and large manufacturers all have financial operations, so it will not affect the hardware segment. Even if there is an impact on Taiwan, it will be brief, this is just a market adjustment process.
Physical AI to Determine Payback Speed, Full-Year GDP Seen at 12%
Ye Junxian pointed out that people are more concerned about AI and large cloud service providers investing massive capital spending to fully develop cloud computing, how it will be implemented and how much payback benefit it can generate. This will take time to verify, and will depend on the development speed of physical AI. Like TSMC, its factories have gradually moved toward automation, and the required computing power has already been arranged. Physical AI is mainly reflected in robotics and autonomous driving, these applications will require relatively more computing power. If progress is rapid, the speed at which cloud service vendors recoup benefits will also accelerate, and the overall upward AI trend will be clear. Only in the process the market may see volatility due to worries over whether computing power can be implemented and whether application vendors can truly make money. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics announced the Q3 economic growth advance estimate at 14.36%, and 14.22% for the first three quarters. Q4 may drop to 6%, 7% due to a higher base last year. He believes full-year 12% is assured, and whether it exceeds 13% will depend on whether Q4 export growth picks up.