Taiwan Stocks Plunge by Over a Thousand Points as AI Spending Concerns Heat Up
Taiwan stocks opened lower and fluctuated today, falling by more than 1600 points intraday and closing down 1156.5 points at 45211.83 points, as outsiders questioned whether AI capital expenditure spending would hurt the industry outlook. 國泰金 Holding held the 2026 Cathay Asset Management Summit today, with media focusing on capital market volatility and market concerns over AI capital expenditure. 國泰金 General Manager 李長庚 responded to related questions during a joint media interview at the meeting. He said Taiwan's economic growth performance this year ranks roughly second globally, second only to Guyana, a small South American oil-dependent country, and overall fundamentals remain supportive.
李長庚: AI Will Not Die, Moving Forward Amid Volatility
李長庚 said many people are using AI, and the AI industry will not die, but the development of the AI industry is bound to be full of ups and downs. New technology adoption will absolutely not happen in one step, and will always move forward with volatility. He noted the common view on AI is that AI will not die, because everyone is using AI, finds it very useful, and wants to keep using it, so this technology will not disappear. He believes AI development is bound to be full of volatility. Now everyone is using AI and using it happily, but new technology development will not arrive in one step, and the process will inevitably rise and fall.
CoreWeave and Nscale Events Like Small Waves in a Big Swell
Recent default risk concerns surrounding AI compute leasing company CoreWeave, as well as reports that Microsoft terminated a data center agreement with UK cloud infrastructure provider Nscale, have raised market doubts about AI development. 李長庚 described these events as small waves within a big swell. He said operators like CoreWeave have a genius-type business model, using technology to secure Nvidia chips first, then negotiating future compute-supply contracts with cloud service providers after obtaining the chips, and then using those contracts to seek bank financing. Because computing power was extremely scarce in the past, operators had no problems applying for power and licenses, and successful cases drove sharp stock price surges.
Compute Still Scarce, Taiwan Hardware Chain Still Enjoys Strong Prospects
李長庚 said the current challenge is that if power providers refuse to supply electricity, or operations cannot proceed smoothly, such operators may face contract terminations with cloud service providers while still having to pay hefty interest on prior borrowings, making continued operation difficult without stable cash flow. However, he believes that even if companies like CoreWeave cannot continue operating, many buyers may still rush to buy their data centers at discounted prices, and buyers with sufficient cash flow would truly profit greatly from such purchases. He also mentioned Google continues to invest heavily in order to prevent its search engine business from being taken over by other emerging AI companies. As long as computing power remains insufficient and all parties continue to invest heavily, Taiwan's hardware supply chain will still enjoy strong prospects, and one should remain confident in Taiwan.