South Korea unveiled an investment package of at least $880 billion to accelerate semiconductor manufacturing and artificial-intelligence infrastructure, part of a sweeping “Three Mega Projects” initiative to build chip hubs, data centers and robotics clusters beyond Seoul. President Lee Jae-myung framed the plan as essential to reversing regional decline and securing an edge in AI, announcing it alongside leaders of Samsung and SK Hynix, major suppliers to Nvidia and other U.S. tech giants. The move comes as Taiwan, China and Japan pour capital into fabs amid an AI-driven chip shortage that has lifted prices and pushed device makers including Apple and Microsoft to raise some prices. SK Hynix recently topped a $1 trillion market value on surging demand for AI memory. While big tech plans about $650 billion in AI-related spending this year, some investors warn of overheating after recent pullbacks, underscoring the risks of a capital-intensive race for semiconductor capacity.
