Asian chip stocks fall after Broadcom’s Hock Tan likens AI investing to a casino

What was said

Broadcom chief executive Hock Tan compared the AI market to a casino at an event in Singapore on 12 October 2026, according to reports.¹² StartupFortune, citing Benzinga and Bloomberg, reports he said many AI investors do not understand what they are investing in.¹ TradingKey reports he warned that financing the AI build-out could become a bigger challenge than chip shortages.²

We could not find a full transcript, so his exact words are as reported.

How markets moved on 13 October

According to TradingKey’s closing figures:²

• South Korea’s Kospi fell 5.46% to 6,035.36, its lowest close since August.
• Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.82%.
• SK Hynix fell 10.09%, Samsung Electronics 7.39%, Kioxia 13.28% and SoftBank Group 8.50%.

StartupFortune reported the Kospi down more than 6% during the day.¹

Other reasons for the fall

The remark was not the only factor. TradingKey cites investor doubts about whether the memory chip upcycle can last beyond 2028, progress by China’s CXMT on next-generation memory, and worries about the cost and returns of debt-financed AI infrastructure at high interest rates.²

The other side

StartupFortune reports that Tan also forecast Broadcom’s AI chip revenue rising from about $58 billion this financial year to $230 billion by financial year 2028, so his comments were about investor behaviour, not falling demand for chips.¹ Broadcom had not commented further when we checked.

Why it matters

Memory and chip makers in South Korea and Japan have been among the biggest winners of AI spending. A sharp fall shows how sensitive these shares are to any hint that AI investment could slow.