SEOUL—A global AI boom is enriching tech powerhouses in South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, luring investors of all ages to red-hot Asian markets.
Na Se-bin, a 24-year-old South Korean software developer, has poured nearly all her life savings, roughly $47,000, into the stock market since January, lured by the global AI boom.
Trillions of dollars are flowing into AI's global build-out, which relies on semiconductors and chip-making technology from a handful of Asian exporters.
The worldwide surge in chip demand is swelling exports, corporate profits, and the bank accounts of many investors, seemingly without end.
Even after recent pullbacks, Taiwan's main stock market has doubled in value over the past year, while South Korea's has tripled, and Japan's Nikkei has surged more than 80% over the same period.
Investors, including taxi drivers in Taipei, are trading stocks mid-ride, and workers in the memory-chip division at South Korea's Samsung Electronics expect bonuses this year averaging around $400,000.
Asia's titans supply indispensable hardware, the figurative picks and shovels of the AI gold rush, and Silicon Valley's four hyperscalers plan to spend as much as $670 billion this year on AI-related capital expenditures.
Global exports of AI-enabling goods hit nearly $4 trillion last year, with Asia accounting for two-thirds of that total, according to an Allianz Trade report.
Direct spending on AI is forecast to total $2.6 trillion this year, up 47% over 2025, according to Gartner, a market researcher.
Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, recently concluded a high-profile visit to Taiwan and South Korea, announcing plans to spend $150 billion a year in Taiwan, which he called the epicenter of the AI revolution.
Even children are getting into the act, with more than 180,000 trading accounts for children 18 or younger created in the first three months of the year at Toss Securities, a South Korean brokerage.
